Matt Ridley is the author of the national bestseller Genome. His previous books include The Red Queen and The Origins
of Virtue. His science writing has appeared in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Discover, Atlantic Monthly,
Natural History, and many other publications. He lives in northern England.
Summary
If, as Matt Ridley suggests in his introduction, science is simply the search for new forms of ignorance, then
perhaps it follows that with science's advances come new questions. Will human genetic engineering become commonplace?
Will human cloning ever be safe? Are there many universes? How much will the climate change during the coming century?
The Best American Science Writing 2002 gathers top writers and scientists covering the latest developments
in the fastest-changing, farthest-reaching scientific fields, such as medicine, genetics, computer technology,
evolutionary psychology, cutting-edge physics, and the environment. The topics covered in this year's essays include:
the medically and ethically unprecedented issues posed by cloning and genetic engineering; the revolutionary discovery
that adult brain cells might in fact regenerate; a peculiar episode in which genetic engineering and artistic culture
collide; an insightful contrast between suicide terrorists and rescue workers who risk their lives; an exploration
of the mysteries encoded in the universe's smallest units, be they cells or quanta; and two contrasting views,
both valid, on the state of the environment. In the end, the unanswered questions are what sustain scientific inquiry,
open new frontiers of knowledge, and lead to new technologies and medical treatments. The Best American Science
Writing 2002 is a series of exciting reports from science's front lines, where what we don't know is every
bit as important as what we know.
Table of Contents
Introduction ix
Dr. Daedalus
Crimson Tide
The Made-to-Order Savior
A Desire to Duplicate
Medicine's Race Problem
The Thirty Years' War
The Soft Science of Dietary Fat
Brothers with Heart
I Love My Glow Bunny
Rethinking the Brain
Penninger
Mothers and Others
Of Altruism, Heroism and Nature's Gifts in the Face of Terror
