Books : The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007 (The Best American Series (TM))
from: Houghton Mifflin
List Price: $14.00Amazon.com's Price: $11.20 You Save: $2.80 (20%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.80356
EAN: 9780618722310
ISBN: 0618722319
Label: Houghton Mifflin
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: October 10, 2007
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Sales Rank: 77767
Studio: Houghton Mifflin
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
"Science is about not knowing and wanting badly to know. Science is about flawed and complicated human beings trying to use whatever tools they've got, along with their minds, to see something strange and new. In that sense, writing about science is just another way of writing about the human condition." -- from the introduction by Richard Preston
The twenty-eight pieces in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007 span a wide range of topics, from the farthest reaches of space to the everyday world around us to the secrets hiddin in our own bodies. Michael Lemonick travels to an extinct volcano in Hawaii, where telescopes at the summit are providing researchers with a glimpse of the most distant galaxy ever seen -- and profound new insights into the creation of the universe. Neil deGrasse Tyson takes a sharp, witty look at Americans' delirium over space travel. And with surgical precision Michael Perry describes how a medical autopsy is performed. Dead men can tell tales.
Here we also see examinations of the sometimes harmful impact of science on the natural world. Susan Casey gives an alarming portrait of plastic waste pollution in the world's oceans, including a dead zone in the mid-Pacific that's twice the size of Texas. Michael Shnayerson heads to West Virginia, where the Appalachians are being blasted at the rate of several ridgetops a week, all in the pursuit of ever-elusive coal. And Paul Bennett goes deep beneath Rome's streets, where cutting-edge excavation techniques are revealing newfound treasures in one of the world's oldest cities.
A profile of a late, distinguished British ornithologist by John Seabrook reveals that the man's personal collection of bird skins, now in the British Natural History Museum, was largely stolen or bought and intentionally mislabeled. Richard Conniff visits a former Brooklyn social worker turned primatologist who has become a fierce advocate of the lemur. And Patricia Gadsby takes us into the kitchens of Europe's finest chefs to explain how the new field of molecular gastronomy is revolutionizing fine cuisine.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Very good collection. I subscribe to many of the magazines these articles come from and I still love this series. Very often reading about science can be laborious. This is a great collection of wide-ranging topics that give you a taste of many different areas.
Rating:  -
This year's Best American series seems to be the weakest one yet, and the science and nature writing is no exception, it too is weaker than the previous volumes I've read (and Preston's intro is dull, droll and seems to just go on and on). That being said, it is still a great volume of essays. There are quite a few really great ones and most were good, though there were a larger than normal amount of dull essays, and one (Rough) that I wasn't quite sure what it was or why it was in there. All in all though, it is worth the price.
Rating: -
Depending on your viewpoint, the volumes in this series are either treasure houses or minefields. The jewels are essays providing new topics and information to consider. That's also the danger. Most of these articles present the reader with a challenge - "Should I be concerned about this? Should I take some action?" It's almost wearying to turning the pages and be confronted with the need for a decision. Yet, those prompts are not artificial.
Preston, author of "The Demon in the Freezer" and "The Wild Trees" demonstrates his editorial skills with this engaging collection. Covering such diverse topics as the human threats to the seas, the nature of violence and looking for the oldest light, this series of over two dozen articles - with more than four dozen hovering in the wings - conveys how deeply science is penetrating Nature's mysteries. The editor's own writing skills provide a fine standard for assessment and there is nothing either dull or arcane to make the reader stumble. Interests vary, and Preston's choices will meet everybody's requirements. More to the point the subjects chosen and the information provided will stir interest in new areas readers might wish to pursue further.
Each reader - and reviewer - will have particular articles to favour as they wend their way through the anthology. To this reviewer, "Plastic Ocean" by Susan Casey is a foremost choice. Not only is it a fine piece of writing, but the subject - how our plastic ... Read More
Rating: -
Great stuff on science and nature contained in twenty-eight selections, of which I liked most: Plastic Ocean, Notes on the Space We Take, Health Secrets From the Morgue, and the Introduction (by Robert Preston) and least: The Rabbit on Mars, The Final Frontier, and How to Get a Nuclear Bomb. Without necessarily agreeing with all of them, I found the following facts, statements, and/or opinions especially interesting (Pp 12, 47, 57, 96, 100-101, 120, 173, 261, 278 respectively):
"...by weight, [the North Pacific subtropical gyre] contains six times as much plastic as it does plankton;" "...a 65-degree egg cooked for an hour should be quite safe.)" and soft boiling eggs at this temperature "...is becoming the rage with chefs in France;" "A twiffler...is a plate of intermediate in size between a dinner plate and a bread plate;" "...perhaps the thing that should worry you the least [should you wish to get a nuclear bomb] is the American government's war on terror;" "Given the pervasive presence of homosexuality throughout the animal kingdom, same-sex partnering must be an adaptive trait that's been carefully preserved by natural selection;" "A globule of yellow-streaked fat oozed through the gaping wound [of a gryllacridid]. It then curled its head down toward the leaking viscera and proceeded to consume its own entrails;" "The duck is the Trojan horse..." [of the bird flu virus], "...a car driven 10,000 miles a year with a fuel efficiency of 30 miles per gallon (mpg) emits ... Read More
Rating: -
I always enjoy these collections of science and nature writing: The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and The Best American Science Writing. I assume these two books compete for the best articles. That means neither one can be "the best", but there are so many nonfiction science and nature writers that each volume has plenty to choose from.
This volume, with selections made by Richard Preston (The Hot Zone, The Demon in the Freezer), has a wide range of articles. The science essays clearly were the winners here (my favorites: Susan Casey's article on oceanic plastics, and Patricia Gadsby's on the chemistry of food... I've got to start experimenting with eggs). I was less enthused about Brian Doyle's essay on seeing a fisher, and Bill Sherwonit's bear story.
What I really like about this series is that all the articles are short and enlightening. I always feel smarter having read them. So I thank the authors for taking these complex topics and, through the magic of science writing, putting them into a language that even I can understand... like the mutation in the FOX2P gene, and what that means for humanity.
These are great books for trips, and for gifts.
Browse for similar items by category:
|
