"Science is not a subculture separate from that of literature. Its knowledge is the totality of what humanity can verify about the real world, testable by repeated experiment or factual observation, bound to related information by general principles . . . The most democratic of human mental activity, it comprises the nonfiction stories you can take to the bank." — Edward O. Wilson, in his introduction to The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2001
Selected by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author, scientist, and naturalist Edward O. Wilson, The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2001 showcases the finest nonfiction writing on scientific and natural history topics published in 2000. This year's volume includes the work of Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Richard Preston, Barbara Kingsolver and Steven Hopp, Edward Hoagland, David Quammen, and Edwin Dobb, among others.
As Burkhard Bilger comments in his opening to the collection, "As you might expect — or even hope — from a book 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 micro- and macroscopic. The result . . . is a vindication of an oft-maligned field and a hopeful glimpse of its future."
Edward O. Wilson is Pellegrino University Professor and curator of entomology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. One of the world's most renowned scientists and the author or editor of more than twenty books, Wilson is the only person to have received both our nation's highest award in science, the National Medal of Science, and its premier literary award, the Pulitzer Prize in literature (twice).
Series editor Burkhard Bilger is a senior editor at Discover and has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Harper's Magazine, among other periodicals. His first book, Noodling for Flatheads, was published last year.
Tuesday, November 27, 7:00 P.M.
Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York City
Participants: Edward O. Wilson, Burkhard Bilger, Malcolm Gladwell (others to be announced)
Monday, January 14, 7:00 P.M
WordsWorth Books, 30 Brattle Street, Cambridge Mass.
Participants: Edward O. Wilson, Mark Cherrington, Bernd Heinrich
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