vdarcangelo's review against another edition
5.0
Faves:
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, "The Organ Dealer"
Burkhard Bilger, "Nature's Spoils"
Deborah Blum, "The Chemist's War"
Luke Dittrich, "The Brain That Changed Everything"
David H. Freedman, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science"
Malcolm Gladwell, "The Treatment"
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, "The (Elusive) Theory of Everything"
Christopher Ketcham, "New Dog in Town"
Dan Koeppel, "Taking a Fall"
Jon Mooallem, "The Love that Dare Not Squawk Its Name"
Jill Sisson Quinn, "Sign Here if You Exist"
Evan I. Schwartz, "Waste MGMT"
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, "The Organ Dealer"
Burkhard Bilger, "Nature's Spoils"
Deborah Blum, "The Chemist's War"
Luke Dittrich, "The Brain That Changed Everything"
David H. Freedman, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science"
Malcolm Gladwell, "The Treatment"
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, "The (Elusive) Theory of Everything"
Christopher Ketcham, "New Dog in Town"
Dan Koeppel, "Taking a Fall"
Jon Mooallem, "The Love that Dare Not Squawk Its Name"
Jill Sisson Quinn, "Sign Here if You Exist"
Evan I. Schwartz, "Waste MGMT"
dominiquejl's review against another edition
4.0
This series rarely disappoints- a really interesting, well-written, topically, if not ethnically/racially diverse, compilation. Of you're into this kind of thing, a perfectly serviceable, relatively easy read.
wagmore's review against another edition
3.0
As you would expect in a collection like this, my interest level varied a lot according to the subject matter. But most of the writing was very good. Their was only one piece that I think should have been omitted because it was so self-indulgent.
knitter22's review against another edition
4.0
This is a terrific collection of science and nature writing, with some really excellent pieces. David Freedman's "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science", Atul Gawande's "Letting Go", and Malcolm Gladwell's "The Treatment" were riveting, amazing, and educational reading by flashlight during our prolonged Sandy-caused power outage. I'll be reading more of The Best American Science Writing collections for some of the most outstanding science writing gathered in one place, but hopefully not by flashlight.
brizreading's review against another edition
4.0
Very wonderful, as usual. Gosh, I love this series. Also as usual: some essays were better than others. I reeeeally didn't care for the "my manly husband killed a bear" essay, which seemed very thin on both the science AND nature. Some of the best essays included a look at hospice care (Atul Gawande), a profile of a medical researcher exposing publication bias and data mining, and a profile of Sandor Katz and other alternative-food hippies (I find Katz endlessly fascinating and inspiring!). The physics essays - including one by Stephen Hawking - were suitably mind-bending.
jess10adam's review against another edition
4.0
I really should read these books closer to their release date!
Being curated by Mary Roach this was destined to be good and it did not disappoint. Many good articles!
Being curated by Mary Roach this was destined to be good and it did not disappoint. Many good articles!
heathercheuka's review against another edition
3.0
This is not my typical topic for reading but venturing out after joining a book club led me to this book. Surprisingly entertaining and wildly informative.