technicat reviewed The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021 by Ed Yong (The Best American Science and Nature Writing)
a lot of really interesting reading, most educational, some moving, some just fun
4 stars
There are a lot of articles in this collection so by the time I finished I'd forgotted a bunch of the ones I liked, but this also means there's quite a variety of topics, something for every. Given the year, it begins with plenty of covid stories, and as always there's a bit of self-pitying oh-no-we-had-lockdown but for the most part it's illuminating with an in-the-trenches perspective, and perhaps the most important function of science journalism is explaining the difficult issues, e.g. the tension between doctors trying anything to save their patients and the researchers trying to determine with scientific rigor what actually works. On a lighter note, there are articles about animals, from butterflies to rabbits to earthworms (but still, the difficult issues, e.g. does cultivating monarch butterflies in your backyard help preserve the species or introduce less hardy ones into the population and hasten their extinction?). If there's …
There are a lot of articles in this collection so by the time I finished I'd forgotted a bunch of the ones I liked, but this also means there's quite a variety of topics, something for every. Given the year, it begins with plenty of covid stories, and as always there's a bit of self-pitying oh-no-we-had-lockdown but for the most part it's illuminating with an in-the-trenches perspective, and perhaps the most important function of science journalism is explaining the difficult issues, e.g. the tension between doctors trying anything to save their patients and the researchers trying to determine with scientific rigor what actually works. On a lighter note, there are articles about animals, from butterflies to rabbits to earthworms (but still, the difficult issues, e.g. does cultivating monarch butterflies in your backyard help preserve the species or introduce less hardy ones into the population and hasten their extinction?). If there's one article that maybe doesn't need to be included it's the one on SpaceX being a nuisance to their neighbors in Texas. I sympathize, but Musk being annoying is not news, and there's no science there. But the collection is fittingly bookended with stories on life issues - an exploration of hospice (and lack of hospice) options in China (also, for a supposedly Communist country, their health care availability appears to be worse than even here, if they invade Taiwan I hope they adopt their universal health care system), and around the world in Denmark with their advanced health care for all including prenatal screening, a spotlight on the ethical, societal, and personal implications of deciding whether or not to go through with pregnancies based on how your kid might turn out. That's pretty heavy, but you can always read the rabbit story.
