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susanbrooks's review
4.0
Fascinating, disturbing, heart-breaking and inspiring nature & sciences articles - ranging from face-blindness,
to killer whales in captivity to how Western medicine addresses (or fails to address) dying.
to killer whales in captivity to how Western medicine addresses (or fails to address) dying.
balletbookworm's review
4.0
A good collection, many good pieces here that need to be read by a wider audience: Bhattacharjee's "The Organ Dealer" about the illegal kidney trade
Bilger's gag-inducing (at the very end) "Nature's Spoils"
Dittrich's "The Brain That Changed Everything" which brings a very personal sense of history to the story of a man with brain damage resulting from a surgically-absent hippocampus
Freedman's "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science" which highlights how reported medical research oftentimes is later proven incorrect or inconclusive
Gawande's haunting "Letting Go" about the disconnect in the medical establishment regarding end-of-life care
Mooallem's occasionally funny, occasionally stern "The Love That Dare Not Squawk It's Name" about the long-term mating habits of the Laysan albatross and the ridiculous levels humans go to to apply animal behavior as justification for human behavior
Sack's "Face-Blind" about the neural basis and social complications of face-blindness or prosopagnosia
Zimmerman's elegy "The Killer in the Pool"
Bilger's gag-inducing (at the very end) "Nature's Spoils"
Dittrich's "The Brain That Changed Everything" which brings a very personal sense of history to the story of a man with brain damage resulting from a surgically-absent hippocampus
Freedman's "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science" which highlights how reported medical research oftentimes is later proven incorrect or inconclusive
Gawande's haunting "Letting Go" about the disconnect in the medical establishment regarding end-of-life care
Mooallem's occasionally funny, occasionally stern "The Love That Dare Not Squawk It's Name" about the long-term mating habits of the Laysan albatross and the ridiculous levels humans go to to apply animal behavior as justification for human behavior
Sack's "Face-Blind" about the neural basis and social complications of face-blindness or prosopagnosia
Zimmerman's elegy "The Killer in the Pool"
juliana_aldous's review
4.0
I found myself reaching the end of an article wishing I had a link to tweet it. Some fantastic authors are included-Oliver Sacks, Jaron Lanier, Jonathan Franzen and Malcolm Gladwell are just a few, and the collection was edited by Mary Roach.
My favorite essay in the book was Letting Go by Atul Gawande. Originally published in the New Yorker, the essay explores our health care system and how we choose to die.
My favorite essay in the book was Letting Go by Atul Gawande. Originally published in the New Yorker, the essay explores our health care system and how we choose to die.
vdarcangelo's review
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
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
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
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
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.