Synopses & Reviews
The Best American Series
The next edition in a series praised as “undeniably exquisite” (Maria Popova), The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015 includes work from both award-winning writers and up-and-coming voices in the field. From Brooke Jarvis on deep-ocean mining to Elizabeth Kolbert on New Zealand’s unconventional conservation strategies, this is a group that celebrates the growing diversity in science and nature writing alike. Altogether, the writers honored in this year’s volume challenge us to consider the strains facing our planet and its many species, while never losing sight of the wonders we’re working to preserve for generations to come.
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015 includes
Sheri Fink, Atul Gawande, Leslie Jamison, Sam Kean, Seth Mnookin, Matthew Power, Michael Specter
and others
REBECCA SKLOOT's award-winning science writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and elsewhere. Her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, was an instant New York Times bestseller. It was named a best book of 2010 by more than sixty media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly and NPR, and by the National Academies of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among others. Skloot is currently writing a book about humans, animals, science, and ethics.
TIM FOLGER, series editor, is a contributing editor at Discover and writes about science for several magazines.
Review
“The list of impressive guest editors over the yearsincluding Oliver Sacks, James Gleick, Atul Gawande and Jerome Groopmanis joined this year by a father and daughter... Rebecca Skloot (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) teams with her father Floyd, a past contributor to the series…Literate, nontechnical popular science.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
“By drawing from a wide variety of sources, mainstream (The New York Times, Playboy, Vanity Fair) and niche (Discover, Columbia Journalism Review, and science blogs), the [2011] anthology both provokes and inspires.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“The perfect gateway to the wider world of modern science in all its variety and wonder. The writing is engaging and perfectly suited to readers of any interest level.... The Best American Science Writing 2011 provides a brilliantly brief glimpse into that fascinating world.” San Francisco Book Review
Synopsis
The 2011 edition of the popular annual series that Kirkus Reviews hailed as “superb brain candy,” Best American Science Writing 2011 continues the tradition of gathering the most crucial, thought-provoking and engaging science writing of the year together into one extraordinary volume. Edited by Rebecca Skloot, award-winning science writer, contributing editor for Popular Science magazine, and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, along with her father, Floyd Skloot, multiple award-winning non-fiction writer and poet, and past contributor to the series, Best American Science Writing 2011 sheds brilliant light on the most amazing and confounding scientific issues and achievements of our time.
Synopsis
Edited by Rebecca Skloot, award-winning science writer and New York Times bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and her father, Floyd Skloot, an award-winning poet and writer, and past contributor to the series, The Best American Science Writing 2011 collects into one volume the most crucial, thought-provoking, and engaging science writing of the year. Culled from a wide variety of publications, these selections of outstanding journalism cover the full spectrum of scientific inquiry, providing a comprehensive overview of the most compelling, relevant, and exciting developments in the world of science. Provocative and engaging, The Best American Science Writing 2011 reveals just how far science has brought us—and where it is headed next.
Synopsis
Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author, edits this year's volume of the finest science and nature writing
Synopsis
“Undeniably exquisite . . . The essays in the collection [are] meditations that reveal not only how science actually happens but also who or what propels its immutable humanity.” — Maria Popova, Brain Pickings “A stimulating compendium.” — Kirkus Reviews
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Deborah Blum selects the years top science and nature writing from writers who balance research with humanity and in the process uncover riveting stories of discovery across the disciplines.
Synopsis
Rebecca Skloot, #1 New York Times best-selling author, edits this year’s volume of the finest science and nature writing.
About the Author
Rebecca Skloot is an award-winning science writer whose work has appeared in the
New York Times Magazine and elsewhere. Her debut book,
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, became an instant
New York Times bestseller. It was chosen as a best book of 2010 by more than sixty major media outlets, and is being adapted into an HBO film by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball.
Floyd Skloot is a writer of creative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. He has received three Pushcart Prizes and a PEN USA Literary Award, among other honors. He is the author of seventeen books, and his work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Beverly Hallberg.
Jesse Cohen is a writer and freelance editor. He lives in New York City.