The Best American Science and Nature Writing (Best American Science & Nature Writing)

Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind.

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002, edited by Natalie Angier, is another "eclectic, provocative collection" (Entertainment Weekly). Malcolm Gladwell, Joy Williams, Barbara Ehrenreich, Burkhard Bilger, Dennis Overbye, and many more of the best and brightest writers on science and nature explore such topics as the rise and fall of Islamic science, disappearing cancers, and the meaning of mountain lions in the back yard.

Contents Foreword xi Introduction by Natalie Angier xv Roy F. Baumeister. Violent Pride 1 from Scientific American

Burkhard Bilger. Braised Shank of Free-Range Possum? 10 from Outside

K. C. Cole. Mind Over Matter 21 from The Los Angeles Times

Richard Conniff and Harry Marshall. In the Realm of Virtual Reality 24 from Smithsonian

Frederick C. Crews. Saving Us from Darwin 34 from The New York Review of Books

Barbara Ehrenreich. Welcome to Cancerland 58 from Harpers Magazine

H. Bruce Franklin. The Most Important Fish in the Sea 80 from Discover

Malcolm Gladwell. Examined Life 89 from The New Yorker

Gary Greenberg. As Good as Dead 101 from The New Yorker

Gordon Grice. Is That a Mountain Lion in Your Backyard? 114 from Discover

Blaine Harden. The Dirt in the New Machine 124 from The New York Times Magazine

Robert M. Hazen. Lifes Rocky Start 137 from Scienti?c American

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. Mothers and Others 148 from Natural History

Garret Keizer. Sound and Fury 161 from Harpers Magazine

Verlyn Klinkenborg. The Pursuit of Innocence in the Golden State 179 from The New York Times

Robert Kunzig. Ripe for Controversy 181 from Discover

Anne Matthews. Wall Street Losses, Wall Street Gains 185 from Orion

Steve Mirsky. Dumb, Dumb, Duh Dumb 196 from Scienti?c American

Judith Newman. “I Have Seen Cancers Disappear” 198 from Discover

Dennis Overbye. How Islam Won, and Lost, the Lead in Science 210 from The New York Times

Chet Raymo. A Little Reminder of Realitys Scale 218 from The Boston Globe

Eric Schlosser. Why McDonalds Fries Taste So Good 221 from The Atlantic Monthly

Daniel Smith. Shock and Disbelief 234 from The Atlantic Monthly

Peter Stark. The Sting of the Assassin 255 from Outside

Clive Thompson. The Know-It-All Machine 266 from Lingua Franca

Joy Williams. One Acre 281 from Harpers Magazine

Karen Wright. Very Dark Energy 292 from Discover

Contributors Notes 301 Other Notable Science and Nature Writing of 2001 306