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booksforjake's review against another edition
5.0
“So scientists and science writers have a monumental task: making science exiting and relevant to the average person, so that they care about science. If we fail in this endeavor, then we must face dire consequences.”
Awesome anthology of science writing. Topics ranged from things I knew I was interested in (animal consciousness, glaciers disappearing from Yosemite, the search for extraterrestrial life) to subjects I didn’t know much about but was happy to learn about (human aging, AI)
Other quotes I liked:
“One evolutionary rationale is that there is something essential to human groups, with the slowly unfolding infancy of their young, in keeping the old folks around even when they can’t make more young folks. Old folks are the cultural repositories of extended cultural memory: it would seem to be advantageous to have a few senior citizens around who know what to do, so to speak, when winter comes.”
“The true condition of youth is the physical ability to forget ourselves”
Awesome anthology of science writing. Topics ranged from things I knew I was interested in (animal consciousness, glaciers disappearing from Yosemite, the search for extraterrestrial life) to subjects I didn’t know much about but was happy to learn about (human aging, AI)
Other quotes I liked:
“One evolutionary rationale is that there is something essential to human groups, with the slowly unfolding infancy of their young, in keeping the old folks around even when they can’t make more young folks. Old folks are the cultural repositories of extended cultural memory: it would seem to be advantageous to have a few senior citizens around who know what to do, so to speak, when winter comes.”
“The true condition of youth is the physical ability to forget ourselves”
raechel's review
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I really flew through the essays that had a strong connection to the more personal stories, but there's a lot of really interesting info in this book. I'm curious to see what the 2021 version will have.
pearseanderson's review
4.0
Damn good yearly antho as always: this collection leans towards astronomy, physics, with some good paleontological hits and AI language learning essays as well. All really important pieces to read that will inspire a bunch of sci-fi in my head, but also longform climate journalism I can pursue. I have preferred past years in terms of ToC, but hey, that's the luck of the draw.
carabones's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Chronic illness, Death, Cancer, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Medical content, Dementia, and Car accident
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