The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021

Paperback, 416 pages

English language

Published Oct. 11, 2021 by Mariner Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-358-40006-6

(1 review)

New York Times best-selling author and renowned science journalist Ed Yong compiles the best science and nature writing published in 2020.

“The stories I have chosen reflect where I feel the field of science and nature writing has landed, and where it could go,” Ed Yong writes in his introduction. “They are often full of tragedy, sometimes laced with wonder, but always deeply aware that science does not exist in a social vacuum. They are beautiful, whether in their clarity of ideas, the elegance of their prose, or often both.” The essays in this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing brought clarity to the complexity and bewilderment of 2020 and delivered us necessary information during a global pandemic. From an in-depth look at the moment of the virus’s outbreak, to a harrowing personal account of lingering Covid symptoms, to a thoughtful analysis on how the pandemic will impact the …

New York Times best-selling author and renowned science journalist Ed Yong compiles the best science and nature writing published in 2020.

“The stories I have chosen reflect where I feel the field of science and nature writing has landed, and where it could go,” Ed Yong writes in his introduction. “They are often full of tragedy, sometimes laced with wonder, but always deeply aware that science does not exist in a social vacuum. They are beautiful, whether in their clarity of ideas, the elegance of their prose, or often both.” The essays in this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing brought clarity to the complexity and bewilderment of 2020 and delivered us necessary information during a global pandemic. From an in-depth look at the moment of the virus’s outbreak, to a harrowing personal account of lingering Covid symptoms, to a thoughtful analysis on how the pandemic will impact the environment, these essays, as Yong says, “synthesize, evaluate, dig, unveil, and challenge,” imbuing a pivotal moment in history with lucidity and elegance.

4 editions

technicat@bookwyrm.social reviewed The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021 by Jaime Green (The Best American Science and Nature Writing)

a lot of really interesting reading, most educational, some moving, some just fun

4 stars

There are a lot of articles in this collection so by the time I finished I'd forgotted a bunch of the ones I liked, but this also means there's quite a variety of topics, something for every. Given the year, it begins with plenty of covid stories, and as always there's a bit of self-pitying oh-no-we-had-lockdown but for the most part it's illuminating with an in-the-trenches perspective, and perhaps the most important function of science journalism is explaining the difficult issues, e.g. the tension between doctors trying anything to save their patients and the researchers trying to determine with scientific rigor what actually works. On a lighter note, there are articles about animals, from butterflies to rabbits to earthworms (but still, the difficult issues, e.g. does cultivating monarch butterflies in your backyard help preserve the species or introduce less hardy ones into the population and hasten their extinction?). If there's …

There are a lot of articles in this collection so by the time I finished I'd forgotted a bunch of the ones I liked, but this also means there's quite a variety of topics, something for every. Given the year, it begins with plenty of covid stories, and as always there's a bit of self-pitying oh-no-we-had-lockdown but for the most part it's illuminating with an in-the-trenches perspective, and perhaps the most important function of science journalism is explaining the difficult issues, e.g. the tension between doctors trying anything to save their patients and the researchers trying to determine with scientific rigor what actually works. On a lighter note, there are articles about animals, from butterflies to rabbits to earthworms (but still, the difficult issues, e.g. does cultivating monarch butterflies in your backyard help preserve the species or introduce less hardy ones into the population and hasten their extinction?). If there's one article that maybe doesn't need to be included it's the one on SpaceX being a nuisance to their neighbors in Texas. I sympathize, but Musk being annoying is not news, and there's no science there. But the collection is fittingly bookended with stories on life issues - an exploration of hospice (and lack of hospice) options in China (also, for a supposedly Communist country, their health care availability appears to be worse than even here, if they invade Taiwan I hope they adopt their universal health care system), and around the world in Denmark with their advanced health care for all including prenatal screening, a spotlight on the ethical, societal, and personal implications of deciding whether or not to go through with pregnancies based on how your kid might turn out. That's pretty heavy, but you can always read the rabbit story.

Subjects

Science