The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2001

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]