The Best American Science and Nature Writing

by David Quammen

Book Overview

With The Best American Science and Nature Writing, Houghton Mifflin expands its stellar Best American series with a volume that honors our long and distinguished history of publishing the best writers in these fields.
David Quammen, together with series editor Burkhard Bilger, has assembled a remarkable group of writers whose selections appeared in periodicals from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, SCIENCE, and THE NEW YORKER to PUERTO DEL SOL and DOUBLETAKE...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618082956
• ISBN13: 9780618082957
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Great collection of articles

Editor David Quammen writes that science on the one hand is getting bigger and nature "in the narrow, green sense," has apparently gotten smaller, marginalized. "The task of writers who care about one or both of these vast subjects is, among other things, to retain a relentless urge for connectedness and a rogue disregard for boundaries," he says. After all, as he points out in his introduction, "Science is a human activity." However science and nature are viewed, the requirement for inclusion in this volume was singular: good writing. In that, the book is a success. Each of the book's 19 entries from top writers retains that connectedness in as many different ways. From Natalie Angier's "Men, Women, Sex and Darwin," to Richard Coniff's "African Wild Dogs," to Judith Hooper's "A New Germ Theory," (which explores evolution and infection), Quammen's observation that science is a subset of human culture remains evident and that science is "not so purely objective as it sometimes pretends."Each of the entries is well worth reading. Atul Gawande's "Cancer Cluster Myth," expands one's thinking in light of preconceived notions. The final entry, Gary Taube's article on string theory lets the reader know that while physicists are on the trail of "a theory of everything," and that they feel they are on to something big, ultimately they are not sure exactly what.All in all, the collection offers great writing on a wide array of interesting and current topics in science that will inspire readers to want more good writing about science and nature.

Don't eat melted caterpillars!

"David Quammen" on a cover chains the eye and impels the hand to grasp the book displaying it. That he is the editor of this anthology instead of the writer doesn't prove a disappointment. Quite the reverse. Quammen's writing skills are nearly matched by each of the essays he's selected for this collection. With topics ranging from gorillas to GUTs, we're presented with delightful reading. Every essay will compete for your attention, subtly commanding some time for further reflection, and perhaps action. Quammen's given us readings of compelling interest. Going through this series in one reading may be overwhelming. A pause for personal afterthought could follow each of these articles. Although a series of excellent pieces, the opening choice was unfortunate. Natalie Angier's diatribe against evolutionary psychology is overblown, overstated and overfocussed. Feminist writers find natural selection a ready target in these days of "political correctness" joining religious fundamentalism in assaulting Darwin from left and right. Attacking an emerging science such as evolutionary psychology is facile. Researchers groping for answers in a field fraught with prejudices and limited information are an easy target. Castigating "evo-psychos", as she terms them, as inconsistent, ignores the problems encountered in establishing a new scientific field. Human behaviour has been the subject of study for millennia. Today, molecular genetics is revealing biological sources for many behaviours giving firmer answers than we've ever had. While she rails at "Darwinian logic", whatever that means, for allotting human male/female roles, the reader can only wonder if she's aware of the wealth of research in those roles in other primates. As a journalistic sniper instead of a researcher, Angier adds nothing to resolving these questions or even posing new ones. Having judged the science as flawed seems sufficient for her purposes.In striking contrast to Angier's vituperation, the pearl in this collection is Ken Lamberton's very compassionate account in "The Wisdom of the Toads." Quammen's ability to bring the reader into the account has received attention from this reviewer elsewhere. Lamberton's analogue ability gives a graceful style to his description of desert toads and their erratic life. As he and his daughters watch the toads adapting to the unpredictable ways of desert realities, we are granted insight to Lamberton's own reality. While jarring, his admission detracts neither from his powers of perception nor his gently insistent power of his descriptions. His writing commands respect; his close-up view of Nature one we should all emulate. It is particularly interesting that he shares place in this collection with Angier, while inadvertently refuting her.Several essays dealing with other animals are curtailed in geography, but unlimited in approach. From African wild dogs, we're shown the threats posed to gorillas by human wars, to hum

Interesting and diverse articles

This is a good book! I just mailed a copy to a friend. One article is about whether or not computers really do increase productivity or whether computer users spend lots of time figuring out software rather than doing real work. Reminds one of Edward Tufte's Visual Explanations about how so many web sites are filled with 'screenjunk' rather than content. Another article discusses cancer clusters and why most people do not realize how random sequences really work, which leads them to jump to the wrong conclusions. One article is about Paul Ewald's work concerning infectious diseases. This lead me to read his current book Plague Time. Very thought provoking. An especially frightening article concerns smallpox and the threat of bio-warfare, and why our government cannot seem to get any new, fresh vaccine made. Many other great articles. Worth the read.

Great book for the open-minded and time-constrained!

If you have only limited time but are curious about the fields of nature and science, this compilation is a must-have. A carefully-chosen wide range of articles by some of the most brilliant (not just the best-known) scientists and writers currently active. Computer science, HIV. archaeology and Y2K hysteria are all covered yet the book does not seem choppy or disconnected. Any of the short essays/articles can be read alone, for they are all worthy free-standing pieces, but the whole is greater than the sum of the individual items.