The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2005

Another great year of science writing. There is a lot of great stuff in this collection. I read these books every year and this one never disappoints.

This collection of essays shifts from the usual scattered melange of topics in this series. Weiner has opted to focus rather more closely on selected areas. In this volume health and medicine gained much of the ink. Given the sources and market, the decision has merit. Certainly the issues discussed are worthy of close attention. The narrower topic approach hasn't allowed any slipshod writer to sneak in. All the articles command your attention - and are worthy of it. Well-written, informative and current, the selection is a treasure of quality. Weiner opens the collection recalling his childhood fascination with atoms. He actually thought he saw some in a moment of dizziness. This "insight" leads him to note how physics and biology are gently merging through the growing field of molecular biology. Understanding genes means understanding molecular activities. More importantly, there are medical implications that we are only now beginning to understand. At the very root of our existence, organic molecules exist as both contributers and threats to life. Robert Kunzig's essay on deep sea sediments and other holdings of microscopic life show these places are also storehouses for methane. Once likely the dominant gas in our atmosphere, global warming may release floods of it again, compounding the "greenhouse effect". In a step up on the molecular complexity ladder, Sherwin Nuland discusses innovative "enhancement" technologies to improve appearance and prolong life. Various hormone "therapies" are already in use with more to come. Jenny Everett's essay on prompting children's growth using manufactured growth hormone struck a nerve with this reviewer. My son endured the daily injection programme for many years. And essays on stem cell research show how the research has become more political than scientific in the US. In the US, space research is an on-going topic, but the loss of the Columbia during its return from orbit re-ignited the debate over manned versus robotic missions. In an unusually [for him] ascerbic essay, Timothy Ferris declares the use of astronauts costs far more than multiple robot spacecraft missions, and adds that threats to human life aren't worth the risk. The issue of "private enterprise" in space is examined, while the true aim of space exploration, providing an alternative home for our species is also discussed. One of the significant prompts for our emigration, climate change, is the topic of a book review essay by Bill McKibben. There are pieces dealing with lighter issues, perhaps the most entertaining being the account of "The Homeless Hacker". Adrian Lamo made sport of the security walls of corporations, the military and the mighty New York Times - the Grey Hat invaded the Grey Lady. Lamo faced a prison sentence when the essay went to press. Clifford Stoll of "The Cuckoo's Egg", tracked down the history of the first "pocket calculator". Stoll's account seems almost humorous, until you discover

I look forward every year to the annual edition of this series and its competitor, Best American Science Writing. Since there are way too many good magazines published I gave up long ago trying to keep up with them, and this book/series serves two useful functions. First, it provides a delightful sampler of science-related writing of the past year, and, second, it often introduces me to some new writers. It is the kind of book that has repercussions: I have never failed to follow up by buying additional books, either books by the authors represented or books referred to in the selections (WARNING: This book could be dangerous to your budget!) The series editor provides a certain stability and may ensure some breadth to the selections, but each volume bears the stamp of the interests of the guest editor. This year there were an unusual number of writers that I do not normally associate with science, such as Malcolm Gladwell, but the ideas were still stimulating. Dining with Robots was so much fun that I e-mailed a number of people the reference and provoked quite a discussion. That is the kind of writing I enjoy! This was probably not the best of the series, but it nonetheless was not one I would want to miss.

A mixed bag is good -- there's something for everyone. But I felt that there were too many "essays" and too many book reviews that I didn't think strictly belonged. Other pieces, though, were stellar.

Each year I am thrilled when this book comes out, along with its equally good competitor of the same format (Best of American Science Writing - 2005). This Christmas, my kids gave me one of each, this one having 25 essays coming from 12 different magazines. Without further ado, I will briefly summarize or provide a provocative quote from each essay for you. If at any time you feel inspired to quit reading this review in favor of the real thing, you will not be disappointed. Introduction, by this year's editor, Jonathon Weiner, who made the final selections: "Science writing is usually seen as a world apart even though its subjects surround us, fascinate us, and terrify us, even though at their best all of the arts and sciences share the same subject, which is the way things are." Natalie Angier: Scientists are a far less religious group than are average Americans, yet only a flaskful of the nonbelievers amongst them have publicly criticized religion. The author reveals the number one thing scientists wish people understood: "Would you please tell the public...that evolution is for real...that the evidence for it is overwhelming, and that an appreciation of evolution serves as the bedrock of our understanding of all life on this planet." Connie Bruck: Story of the politics and campaign to pass Proposition 71 in California, funding stem cell research. "One thing I know about biomedical science - once you're onto something, once you get the best and brightest funded to work on it, things move very, very fast." Frederick Crews: Since the Rorschach's invention as an offshoot of psychoanalysis in 1921, it has survived near abandonment several times, only to be rescued by a new charismatic leader. What has been true all along is now overwhelmingly apparent: the Rorschach reveals more about the examiners' preconceptions than it reveals about the patients. Jared Diamond: Easter Island used to be a tropical paradise. Over about 500 years, eleven chieftains and their tribes competed for status by building the biggest statues, felling huge palms for use in moving the statues to their villages. The result was an eroded desert with little left to eat but rats and each other. Many people see a parallel between Easter Island's fate and today's misuse of the environment - one of the best essays. Jenny Everett: The author agonizes over the growth hormone therapy her little brother is receiving for a few possible extra inches of height. Timothy Ferris: Big hits from NASA - "Some of the shuttle astronauts' finest hours have been spent repairing and refurbishing Hubble, which ranks among the most productive and popular scientific instruments ever constructed" - and lots of misses, in a discussion of the nuts, bolts, and politics of NASA. Malcolm Gladwell: The author contrasts "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" with a current novel, also involving mental trauma from war. Expectations today from experts and laymen alike involve lifelong