The Best American Science Writing 2004

From Publishers Weekly
In this collection of 22 essays and one poem (by John Updike), accomplished essayists writing on subjects across the spectrum of science inform readers without talking down to them or falling into scientific jargon. Sobel (Longitude, Galileo's Daughter) canvassed periodicals as far afield as Mother Jones and Parade, deftly juggling the length, subject and tone of her choices, which include long, serious pieces, like William Langewiesche's account of the disastrous breakdown in decision making within NASA that led to the Columbia tragedy and Susan Milius's short, light-handed description of "the unsung triumphs of creativity" in scientific experiments, such as figuring out how to leash a rattlesnake or frustrate lovelorn dragonflies. Kevin Patterson describes the spread of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis resulting from complacency within the medical profession. K.C. Cole tells of physicist Janet Conrad's search for the elusive "sterile neutrino" using a giant vat of baby oil, and Michael Pollan recounts food scientists' efforts to save vanishing species of turkeys, oysters and corn to preserve genetic diversity as well as flavors that were common in meals long ago. One might argue that space and cosmology are overrepresented. But fans of good science writing, and of good writing of any kind, will find much enjoyment in this collection. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Notable science author Sobel (Galileo's Daughter, 1999) selected these popular science articles, all published in 2003. Spread across the disciplines, many of Sobel's choices first appeared in popular sci-tech periodicals, and an encouraging number of these superbly written pieces also came from literary-minded magazines such as the Atlantic, Harper's, and the New Yorker. The last ran a fascinating profile by Atul Gawande of the late surgeon Francis Moore; a Harper's writer took readers to one of the sentinels-- the Goldstone Tracking Station--for threatening asteroids and comets; and William Langewiesche gave atlantic subscribers a dissection of the dismaying bureaucratic facts about the space shuttle columbia disaster. Sobel selected humorous articles as well. An arch Psychology Today article considers a Harvard professor who takes alien abduction stories seriously, and a Science News piece describes the low-tech apparatus (fishing line and duct tape) used by a researcher of snake behavior. Readers can also find cutting-edge science amid the pleasures of this volume's well-crafted expositions. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Jennifer Kahn's "Stripped for Parts" was selected as the lead story of this year's Best American Science Writing because, as Dava Sobel, best-selling author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, reveals, "it begins with one of the most arresting openings I have ever read." In "Columbia's Last Flight," William Langewiesche recounts the February 1, 2003, space shuttle tragedy, along with the investigation into the nationwide complacency that brought the ship down. K. C. Cole's "Fun with Physics" is a profile of astrophysicist Janet Conrad that blends her personal life with professional activity. In "Desperate Measures," the doctor and writer Atul Gawande profiles the surgeon Francis Daniels Moore, whose experiments in the 1940s and '50s pushed medicine harder and farther than almost anyone had contemplated. Also included is a poem by the legendary John Updike, "Mars as Bright as Venus." The collection ends with Diane Ackerman's "ebullient" essay "We Are All a Part of Nature." Together these twenty-three articles on a wide range of today's most current topics in science -- from biology, physics, biotechnology, and astronomy, to anthropology, genetics, evolutionary theory, and cognition#130; represent the full spectrum of scientific writing from America's most prominent science authors, proving once again that "good science writing is evidently plentiful" (Scientific American).


About the Author
Dava Sobel is the best-selling author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter. A former New York Times science reporter, she has contributed articles to Audubon, Discover, Life, and The New Yorker. She has also been a contributing editor to Harvard Magazine, writing about scientific research and the history of science. She lives in East Hampton, New York.


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In this collection of 22 essays and one poem (by John Updike), accomplished essayists writing on subjects across the spectrum of science inform readers without talking down to them or falling into scientific jargon. Sobel (Longitude, Galileo's Daughter) canvassed periodicals as far afield as Mother Jones and Parade, deftly juggling the length, subject and tone of her choices, which include long, serious pieces, like William Langewiesche's account of the disastrous breakdown in decision making within NASA that led to the Columbia tragedy and Susan Milius's short, light-handed description of "the unsung triumphs of creativity" in scientific experiments, such as figuring out how to leash a rattlesnake or frustrate lovelorn dragonflies. Kevin Patterson describes the spread of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis resulting from complacency within the medical profession. K.C. Cole tells of physicist Janet Conrad's search for the elusive "sterile neutrino" using a giant vat of baby oil, and Michael Pollan recounts food scientists' efforts to save vanishing species of turkeys, oysters and corn to preserve genetic diversity as well as flavors that were common in meals long ago. One might argue that space and cosmology are overrepresented. But fans of good science writing, and of good writing of any kind, will find much enjoyment in this collection. (Sept. 20) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.


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