The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2001

Both the misery and the majesty of modern publishing, it seems to me, are equal justifications for anthologies like this one. Simply put, there is more good writing out there than ever before, and it is harder and harder to find it. And if that's true for journalism of all kinds, it's doubly true for science and nature writing. The premier journals and magazines in the field — Nature, Science, Cell, and so forth — have never been great sources for literary journalism, nor are they meant to be. Instead, the best essays and articles are scattered among a bewildering array of literary and general interest magazines. Edward Wilson and I had a few strict criteria in assembling this volume: no fiction, poetry, prose poems, book chapters (unless published as stand-alone articles) , or plays; only nonfiction published in the last calendar year. But that still left thousands of issues and articles to sift and sort. [...] As you might expect — or even hope — from a book guest edited by Edward Wilson, this year's selections lean somewhat toward the natural sciences. Geology, physics, mathematics, and chemistry are all represented, but they are surrounded on all sides by crocodiles, harpy eagles, great apes, and a host of other creatures microand macroscopic. The result, I think, is a vindication of an oft-maligned field and a hopeful glimpse of its future. [From the Preface by BURKHARD BlLGER]