About the Book
Award-winning writer, columnist, and journalists Carl Zimmer selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in 2022.
"What's most compelling about a scientific story is the way it challenges us to think about the concepts we take for granted," writes guest editor Carl Zimmer in his introduction. The essays in this year's Best American Science and Nature Writing probe at the ordinary and urge us to think more deeply about our place in the world around us. From a hopeful portrait of a future for people with Alzheimer's disease, to a fascinating exploration of the rise of nearsightedness in children, to the heroic story of a herd of cows that evaded a hurricane, these selections reveal how science and nature shape our everyday lives. With tremendous intelligence, clarity, and insight, this anthology offers an expansive look at where we are and where we are headed.
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023 includes JESSICA CAMILLE AGUIRRE - VANESSA GREGORY - SABRINA IMBLER FERRIS JABR - MARION RENAULT - ELIZABETH SVOBODA NATALIE WOLCHOVER - SARAH ZHANG and others
About the Author :
CARL ZIMMER, guest editor, writes the Origins column for the New York Times. He is the author of fourteen books, including Life's Edge and She Has Her Mother's Laugh, both of which were finalists for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Zimmer has written for magazines including The Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, and Scientific American. He has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Science Journalism Award three times, and is a two-time winner of the National Academies Communication Award. Zimmer is professor adjunct at Yale University
CARL ZIMMER, guest editor, writes the Origins column for the New York Times. He is the author of fourteen books, including Life's Edge and She Has Her Mother's Laugh, both of which were finalists for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Zimmer has written for magazines including The Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, and Scientific American. He has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Science Journalism Award three times, and is a two-time winner of the National Academies Communication Award. Zimmer is professor adjunct at Yale University
Jaime Green, series editor, is a science writer and essayist. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Aeon, Slate, The Nation, The New York Times Book Review, Astrobites, and elsewhere. She is the author of The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos.
Jaime Green, series editor, is a science writer and essayist. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Aeon, Slate, The Nation, The New York Times Book Review, Astrobites, and elsewhere. She is the author of The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos.
Shahjehan Khan is a Pakistani-American narrator, actor, and touring musician. He fell into this work when a producer at Audible heard his punk band interviewed on NPR in 2009, but didn't start to dive into the medium until relatively recently, thanks in large part to the lovely folks at Macmillan Audio who have believed in him since his first title with them. Although he is now often distracted with roles in movies, TV, and playing in all his bands, he will always love the booth. He's now approaching 30 official titles with many of the major publishers and recently won his first Earphones award. Shaj's voice is on the chill, smooth, and calming side, but he's definitely skilled at pushing it and finding multiple characters within a story with consistency and agility. He's also an award-winning podcast host and producer: his show "King of The World" was nominated for an Ambie and a Webby; and he's currently producing a Tribeca-nominated mini series on groovy 60s psychedelic Pakistani music called "Karachi Nights". His main inspiration is his awesome and super smart scientist partner Lauren.
Nikki Massoud is the Audie Award-winning narrator of over thirty audiobooks. Also an experienced actor, her television credits include guest starring on Love Life, Emergence, and Madam Secretary, and her stage credits include Wish You Were Here at Playwrights Horizons and Othello at New York Theatre Workshop. She is also an Atlantic Launch Commission writer. Based in New York City, she is a first-generation Iranian-American immigrant who was raised in Montreal and Washington, DC. Johnny Rey Diaz is an award-winning, bilingual, Los Angeles-based actor, filmmaker, and host. Born and raised in Arizona, Johnny is the son of Mexican and Colombian immigrant parents, and a proud first-generation American. He is currently a series regular on Amazon's newest single-cam comedy, Primo, produced by Michael Schur, producer of The Office and cocreator of Parks & Rec and Brooklyn 99. He can also be seen recurring on Pam & Tommy (Hulu) and Grey's Anatomy (ABC). His voice-over work includes commercials, video games, scripted podcasts, and audiobooks, most notably the New York Times bestseller Rain of Gold. He is also an on-camera host for the Tennis Channel. Em Grosland (he/they/she) is a transgender, nonbinary actor and artist with over 50 books under their belt. They love giving voice to powerful trans boys and men, rebellious tomboys, nonbinary humans and fantastical creatures, sapphic folks falling in love, and any and all books that challenge late-stage capitalism or highlight the joy and strength of marginalized folks. Em was lucky enough to be read to by their mother, so they narrate from the beliefs that grown-ups and kids all benefit from storytelling and that nothing can replace the human voice. What defined humanity as being a culture instead of a pack was when the first storyteller decided to share. They love finding the very specific life of each character through subtle (and occasionally not so subtle) vocal qualities. Em truly enjoys performing a story more than simply reading it. They pay very close attention to the full arc of the story and the ways in which the character and the narrator learn and grow from the beginning to the end.
Katharine Chin is a Taiwanese American actor, writer, and producer based in New York. She trained as an actor at UC San Diego, Steppenwolf West, and received her MFA in acting at The New School. As a narrator, Katharine has recorded numerous titles for Harper, Macmillan, Hachette, Apple+ News, Penguin Random House, and more. Her work spans historical fiction to middle grade to scientific articles. Katharine has founded and run theater companies, earned degrees in biology and political science, worked at a Lippizaner ranch in the upper Mojave desert, gone shark diving without a cage in Fiji, and knit many, many sweaters by hand. Born in the SF Bay Area, she lived in Taiwan from 6th-10th grade and speaks Mandarin fluently.
