Bibliographic Information

The best American science writing

editor Jesse Cohen

HarperCollins Publishers, c2000-

  • 2000
  • 2001
  • 2002 : pbk
  • 2003 : pbk
  • 2004
  • 2004 : Hard
  • 2005
  • 2006 : pbk
  • 2007 : pbk
  • 2008 : pbk
  • 2009 : pbk
  • 2010
  • 2011

Available at  / 31 libraries

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Note

Series editor: Jesse Cohen

2000 editor: James Gleick

2001 editor: Timothy Ferris

2002 editor: Matt Ridley

2003 editor: Oliver Sacks

2004 editor: Dava Sobel

2005 editor: Alan Lightman

2006 editor: Atul Gawande

2007 editor: Gina Kolata

2008 editor: Sylvia Nasar

2009 editor: Natalie Angier

2010 editor: Jerome Groopman

2011 editor: Rebecca Skloot and Floyd Skloot

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

2000 ISBN 9780060197346

Description

The first volume in this annual series of the best science writing by American writers carries the imprimatur of Pulitzer Prize nominee James Gleick, one of our foremost chroniclers of scientific social history. Debuting with a stellar collection that includes the writings of Nobel Laureate physicist Steven Weinberg, Pulitzer Prize winner Natalie Angier, eminent Harvard professor and prolific writer Stephen Jay Gould, mathematician and cognitive theorist Douglas Hofstadter, foremost writer on astronomy Timothy Ferris, and many more, this first volume will cover the full range of scientific inquiry -- from biochemistry, physics, and astronomy to genetics, evolutionary theory, cognition, and ants.
Volume

2004 : Hard ISBN 9780060726393

Description

What makes the articles found in The Best American Science Writing 2004 "the best"? As Dava Sobel, best-selling author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, writes in her introduction, "First and most important, all are extremely well written. This sounds obvious, and it is, but for me it means the pieces impart genuine pleasure via the writers' choice of words and the rhythm of their phrases ... 'I wish I'd written that, ' was my own frequent reaction to the articles I ultimately chose." <p>This year, Jennifer Kahn's "Stripped for Parts" was selected as the lead story because, as Sobel 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." <p>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 -- represent the full spectrum of scientific writing from America's most prominent science authors, provingonce again that "good science writing is evidently plentiful" (Scientific American).
Volume

2004 ISBN 9780060726409

Description

An exciting collection of the best writing on science from the most prominent thinkers and focusing on the most current topics in science today.
Volume

2005 ISBN 9780060726423

Description

Together these twenty-seven articles on a wide range of today's most current topics in science, from Oliver Sacks, James Gleick, Atul Gawande, and Natalie Angier, among others, represent the full spectrum of scientific writing, proving once again that "good science writing is evidently plentiful" (Scientific American).
Volume

2006 : pbk ISBN 9780060726447

Description

Together these twenty-one articles on a wide range of today's most leading topics in science, from Dennis Overbye, Jonathan Weiner, and Richard Preston, among others, represent the full spectrum of scientific inquiry, proving once again that "good science writing is evidently plentiful" (American Scientist).
Volume

2001 ISBN 9780060936488

Description

This "richly informative, wide-ranging, and intellectually provocative" - Alan Lightman - annual series carries the imprimatur of Timothy Ferris, one of our foremost writers in astronomy. Like the 2000 edition, The Best American Science Writing 2001 will cover the full range of scientific inquiry - from biochemistry, physics and astronomy to genetics, evolutionary theory and cognition.
Volume

2002 : pbk ISBN 9780060936501

Description

If, as Matt Ridley suggests, science is simply the search for new forms of ignorance, then perhaps it follows that with science's advances come new questions. Will human genetic engineering become commonplace? Will human cloning ever be safe? Are there many universes? How much will the climate change during the coming century?The Best American Science Writing 2002 gathers top writers and scientists covering the latest developments in the fastest-changing, farthest-reaching scientific fields, such as medicine, genetics, computer technology, evolutionary psychology, cutting-edge physics, and the environment. Among this year's selections: In "The Made-to-Order Savior," Lisa Belkin spotlights two desperate families seeking an unprecedented cure by a medically and ethically unprecedented means -- creating a genetically matched child. Margaret Talbot's "A Desire to Duplicate" reveals that the first human clone may very likely come from an entirely unexpected source, and sooner than we think. Michael Specter reports on the shock waves rippling through the field of neuroscience following the revolutionary discovery that adult brain cells might in fact regenerate ("Rethinking the Brain"). Christopher Dickey's "I Love My Glow Bunny" recounts with sly humor a peculiar episode in which genetic engineering and artistic culture collide. Natalie Angier draws an insightful contrast between suicide terrorists and rescue workers who risk their lives, and finds that sympathy and altruism have a definite place in the evolution of human nature, David Berlinski's "What Brings a World into Being?" ponders the idea of biology and physics as essentially digital technologies, exploring the mysteries encoded in the universe's smallest units, be they cells or quanta. Nicholas Wade shows how one of the most controversial books of the year, The Skeptical Environmentalist, by former Greenpeace member and self-described leftist Bjorn Lomborg, debunks some of the most cherished tenets of the environmental movement, suggesting that things are perhaps not as bad as we've been led to believe. And as a counterpoint, Darcy Frey's profile of George Divoky reveals a dedicated researcher whose love of birds and mystery leads to some sobering discoveries about global warming and forcefully reminds us of the unsung heroes of science: those who put in long hours, fill in small details, and take great trouble.In the end, the unanswered questions are what sustain scientific inquiry, open new frontiers of knowledge, and lead to new technologies and medical treatments. The Best American Science Writing 2002 is a series of exciting reports from science's front lines, where what we don't know is every bit as important as what we know.
Volume

2003 : pbk ISBN 9780060936518

Description

In his introduction to The Best American Science Writing 2003, Dr. Oliver Sacks, "the poet laureate of medicine" New York Times writes that "the best science writing . . . cannot be completely 'objective' -- how can it be when science itself is so human an activity? -- but it is never self-indulgently subjective either. It is, at best, a wonderful fusion, as factual as a news report, as imaginative as a novel." Following this definition of "good" science writing, Dr. Sacks has selected the twenty-five extraordinary pieces in the latest installment of this acclaimed annual. This year, Peter Canby travels into the heart of remote Africa to track a remarkable population of elephants; with candor and tenderness, Floyd Skloot observes the toll Alzheimer's disease is taking on his ninety-one-year-old mother, and is fascinated by the memories she retains. Gunjan Sinha explores the mating behavior of the common prairie vole and what it reveals about the human pattern of monogamy. Michael Klesius attempts to solve what Darwin called "an abominable mystery": How did flowers originate? Lawrence Osborne tours a farm where a genetically modified goat produces the silk of spiders in its milk. Joseph D'Agnese visits a home for retired medical research chimps. And in the collection's final piece, Richard C. Lewontin and Richard Levins reflect on how the work of Stephen Jay Gould demonstrated the value of taking a radical approach to science. As Dr. Sacks writes of Stephen Jay Gould -- to whose memory this year's anthology is dedicated -- an article of his "was never predictable, never dry, could not be imitated or mistaken for anybody else's." The same can be said of all of the good writing contained in this diverse collection.
Volume

2007 : pbk ISBN 9780061345777

Description

Provocative and engaging, this collection brings together the premiere science writing of the year. Featuring the imprimatur of bestselling author and New York Times reporter Gina Kolata, one of the nation's foremost voices in science and medicine, and with contributions from Atul Gawande, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Oliver Sacks, among others, The Best American Science Writing 2007 is a compelling anthology of our most advanced, and most relevant, scientific inquiries.
Volume

2011 ISBN 9780062091246

Description

""The Best American Science Writing" series has been hailed as, contemporary science's best answers to ...eternal riddles". ("Fortune"); "praised for its breadth - It is rare to be offered such a diverse collection of science writing, ("Nature"); and appreciated for its intelligence and insight - The entire spectrum of science is covered with literary acumen here". ("Booklist"). Provocative and engaging, this latest entry in the series covers the full spectrum of scientific inquiry - from biochemistry, physics, and astronomy, to genetics, evolutionary theory, and cognition. Edited by "The New York Times" bestselling author and award-winning science writer Rebecca Skloot and her father, award-winning writer and poet Floyd Skloot, "The Best American Science Writing 2011" features articles from a wide variety of publications, providing a comprehensive overview of the year's most compelling, relevant, and exciting scientific developments.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

  • NCID
    BA56077976
  • ISBN
    • 006019734X
    • 0060936487
    • 0060936509
    • 0060936517
    • 0060726407
    • 0060726393
    • 0060726423
    • 9780060726447
    • 9780061345777
    • 9780061340413
    • 9780061431661
    • 9780061852510
    • 9780062091246
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    London ; New York
  • Pages/Volumes
    v.
  • Size
    21-24 cm
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