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]