The Best American Science Writing (Best American Science Writing)

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.

"'Edited by New York Times science writer Kolata, this volume celebrates writing that captures the excitement of scientific discovery and also its human consequences. Tyler Cabot's 'The Theory of Everything' spotlights theoretical physicists awaiting 'the greatest, most anticipated, most expensive experiment in the history of mankind.' By contrast, 'Manifold Destiny' by Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber tells of Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman, who quietly announced a solution to one of the field's most elusive problems: Fermat's Last Theorem. Atul Gawande's 'The Score' looks at the all-too-often painful history of obstetrics, and 'Truth or Consequences' by Jennifer Couzin examines the bitter fallout for innocent graduate students and postdocs when their adviser is accused of falsifying data. Oliver Sacks's 'Stereo Sue' explores the marvel of binocular vision, and Barry Yeoman's 'Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery' profiles unconventional paleontologist Mary Higby Schweitzer, discoverer of tissue remnants in dinosaur bones. These articles, culled mainly from general interest publications like the New Yorker but also from science magazines like Discover, showcase articles that show, in Kolata's words, how '[a]dvances in science have changed who we are as human beings and... are changing what we will become,' and readers will indeed find them as exciting as they are compelling. (Sept. 18)' Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)"

Gina Kolata is an award-winning senior writer for the New York Times. The winner of numerous writing awards, she has authored several books, including the bestselling Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It. Her latest book is Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss—and the Myths and Realities of Dieting.