The Best American Science Writing 2003

I have been on a bit of a binge reading science writing lately, and I really enjoyed this collection of essays. You can pick and choose the topics that most interest you--my favorite was the essay about crackpot amateurs who dedicate themselves to promoting their own theories. I kept the book by my bed and read a new essay more or less every night.

This is a great collection of issues and debates in science that those of us out of the field -- or even involved in other research fields -- will find interesting. They're as clearly written as editor Oliver Sacks' works and each has at least one topical issue to catch the reader's interest. Some have several. Each story has something fascinating about it: * "The Forest Primeval" tells about an area of the Congo which humans hadn't penetrated -- and the impact of the wildlife on the ecology. There are some surprising elements to it, including that it might once have been populated by humans. * Mann's article from Atlantic Monthly goes through what the New World might have been like prior to Columbus -- and highlights a debate between new historians and traditionalists over whether the continent was empty -- or whether Old World diseases killed up to 90% of the population before colonists began arriving. * "The Learning Curve" deals with the practical skills of learning to be a doctor. Don't let me in the hospital any time soon . . . * "Notes from a Parallel Universe" deals with the people who try to convince scientists of bizarre theories. At Berkeley they even keep the crackpots papers. * Learn about Seattle's Yuckies in "Shadow Creatures." * Gunjan Sinha's article on voles indicates that what you might be experiencing isn't love but a hormone called oxytocin. * The article from New Republic titled "Fighting Chance" is a great story of research -- and how a scientist's career decision got made. * "Why Turn Red?" unravels part of a mystery for why leaves turn red, an energy-consuming activity that often occurs when the leaves are at the end of the photosynthetic life. * If you want a GREAT theme for a scary kids story for a fiction class, the stuff in "Got Silk" has the raw material for good science fiction. * The essay on Hawking is interesting, if only because the bet that it refers to from 1997 was just settled about a month ago -- with Hawking admitting that he was wrong. * Cassuto's essay from "Salon" portrays the impact of a scandal on the science world, where the collateral damage can be as broad as in the financial world. * And finally, the last essay does justice to the career of Stephen Jay Gould, as a biologist, essayist and ardent enemy of creationist influence on public policy. * Plus, you can even learn which TV show retired lab chimpanzees prefer. I'm a sucker for the "Best American Short Stories" collections issued each year, but this collection of science essays exceeded my expectations. So much so that I sent it to my daughter at college.

It would have been interesting to follow Oliver Sacks' selection process in assembling this collection. Today's "science writing" covers a multitude of topics and a spectrum of writing styles. This book provides a mixed bag of both, with some vivid winners and less captivating also-rans. While that can only be expected in such a diverse collection, it would have been enlightening to know what was set aside in the selection process. The twenty-five essays collected here cover most fields of science. With Sacks' background, medicine is given slots, but the articles reflect more personal considerations than either research breakthroughs or even public health issues. It's evident that doctors must train, but reading confessions of ineptness in the apprenticeship don't inspire confidence. One essay, which must have caused an uproar when published, describes the life of two deaf women who decide to bear children - preferably deaf children. It's a vivid description of a sub-culture that must be recognised and understood.Another essay about relationships centres on the prairie vole. This intriguing little animal provides some interesting insights on the concept of "love". Voles select mates, build a nest and settle down. The relationship, seemingly monogamous, may undergo some interesting twists under various conditions. Those conditions produce severe chemical changes in the voles, changes driving unexpected behaviour. Two chemicals, which are present and active in humans, drive voles to violent confrontation or endearing attraction. While little furry creatures may seem to have little to do with human behaviour, further studies indicated just how similar human chemistry is with the rest of the animal kingdom.On a more practical note, the ongoing disputes over the condition of American fisheries have brought together the fishers and the government rule-maker. Lobsters, unlike cod and other foods harvested from the sea, appear to withstand the growing demand for their meat. When administrators sought to control the take, lobstermen objected. A new programme of lobster "census-taking" brought surprises. Using the latest technology, researchers wandered the ocean bottom in submarines or remote probes to better understand the lobster life cycle. Their studies may help save the fishery and perhaps point to new studies of other commercial fish resulting in fewer idle fishermen.As a conclusion, a paean to the late paleontologist and science writer Stephen J. Gould is provided by his colleagues. Whatever one may think of Gould's theories, he made an immense mark in educating the American public to science. The heroes and pariahs alike of science came under his scrutiny and were illuminated by his prose. It is a fitting end to this collection. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Guest editor Oliver Sacks does a fine job assembling an intriguing array of essays pertaining to science and medicine in the latest installment of HarperCollins annual series on the best American science writing. His terse introduction pays homage to his friend Stephen Jay Gould. The first two essays, Peter Canby's "The Forest Primeval" and Charles Mann's "1491", are undoubtedly the best. The former is an engrossing look at a tropical ecologist; the latter is a compelling explanation for the rapid decline of Native Americans on both American continents soon after Columbus' "discovery" of the New World. New York Times science writer Natalie Angier offers a whimsical look at interplanetary exploration in her essay "Scientists Reach Out to Distant Worlds". Nobel Prize-winning Cornell University chemist Roald Hoffmann - a talented man of letters too (Incidentally he is also one of Stuyvesant High School's three Nobel Prize laureates) - examines why simplicity may not be the best reason for "Why Buy That Theory?". On a somber, poignant note, this essay collection closes with "Stephen Jay Gould: What Does It Mean to Be a Radical?", an eloquent eulogy summarizing the late paleobiologist's career by his Harvard University colleagues Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins.