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wicked_sassy's review against another edition
3.0
This series is usually enjoyable but there were too many baffling essays on quantum physics in this edition.
toniclark's review against another edition
4.0
Really good collection this year -- but my absolute fave was "The Deadly Choices at Memorial" -- which was riveting. Sheri Fink won a Pulitzer for that (didn't know when I was reading it).
jackgoss's review against another edition
3.0
This was kind of hit or miss. A lot of the articles are great, but a few left me so bored that I put the book down for a few months.
balletbookworm's review
5.0
A very well-curated collection of science essays spanning from perennial sources The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and Discover to Vanity Fair and Mother Jones to the Speakeasy Science and Not Exactly Rocket Science blogs. Great breadth of sources.
Must-read articles include "What Broke My Father's Heart" (included in [b:The Best American Essays 2011|11664009|The Best American Essays 2011|Edwidge Danticat|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328836776s/11664009.jpg|16609105], "BP's Dark Secrets", "The Estrogen Dilemma" (this one is really good, I took a course in clinical epidemiology from one of the original researchers on the WHI study that was terminated due to unexpectedly poor outcomes), "Cary in the Sky With Diamonds", and "The Enemy Within".
Must-read articles include "What Broke My Father's Heart" (included in [b:The Best American Essays 2011|11664009|The Best American Essays 2011|Edwidge Danticat|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328836776s/11664009.jpg|16609105], "BP's Dark Secrets", "The Estrogen Dilemma" (this one is really good, I took a course in clinical epidemiology from one of the original researchers on the WHI study that was terminated due to unexpectedly poor outcomes), "Cary in the Sky With Diamonds", and "The Enemy Within".
pattydsf's review
3.0
I obviously like the Best American series since I have ten volumes from six different series on my bookshelf here. I have more of them on my real wooden bookcases, that I glance through from time to time. I know that trying to keep up with these series is an impossible task, but I keep acquiring them.
I suspect family and friends would prefer that I didn't read this kind of book. My inclination when I learn new facts that are fascinating to me, is to share them with anyone within earshot. So while I was reading these 25 essays, I told people about fermentation, weather forecasters who don't believe in climate change, underground coal fires and even how long a home run could possibly be. I know that no one would believe that there were facts I learned that I didn't tell them. But I figured I had bored them enough.
If you enjoy learning about new worlds, new ideas, or encountering creative writers and thinkers, there is a Best American series for you.
I suspect family and friends would prefer that I didn't read this kind of book. My inclination when I learn new facts that are fascinating to me, is to share them with anyone within earshot. So while I was reading these 25 essays, I told people about fermentation, weather forecasters who don't believe in climate change, underground coal fires and even how long a home run could possibly be. I know that no one would believe that there were facts I learned that I didn't tell them. But I figured I had bored them enough.
If you enjoy learning about new worlds, new ideas, or encountering creative writers and thinkers, there is a Best American series for you.
callieisreading's review
3.0
A decent collection of science writing, although a bit on the bleak side. The first three stories were about the author discovering he is a hoarder, a father being kept alive by pacemaker while suffering dementia, and a mother who has two sons diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, and her attempts to procure funding for research. What's great about these articles is that even when they occasionally get technical, they never feel too pretentious or bogged down.
carrie562's review
"The Mess He Made" -- author's personal experience with hoarding. Not very science-y, but interesting.
"What Broke My Father's Heart" -- another personal essay, about the downside of a pacemaker artificially extending the life of an elderly man unable to care for himself after a stroke. Powerful & informative.
"What Broke My Father's Heart" -- another personal essay, about the downside of a pacemaker artificially extending the life of an elderly man unable to care for himself after a stroke. Powerful & informative.