Abrahamson Jake - The best American science and nature writing 2015

Copyright 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Introduction copyright 2015 by Rebecca Skloot

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Best American Science and Nature Writing is a trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. The Best American Series is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the proper written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. With the exception of nonprofit transcription in Braille, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is not authorized to grant permission for further uses of copyrighted selections reprinted in this book without the permission of their owners. Permission must be obtained from the individual copyright owners as identified herein. Address requests for permission to make copies of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt material to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhco.com

ISSN 1530-1508

ISBN 978-0-544-28674-0

Cover design by Christopher Moisan Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Cover photograph Getty Images

e ISBN 978-0-544-28675-7
v1.1015

Waiting for Light by Jake Abrahamson. First published in Sierra, Sept/Oct 2014. Copyright 2014 by Jake Abrahamson. Reprinted by permission of Jake Abrahamson.

In Deep by Burkhard Bilger. First published in The New Yorker, April 21, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Burkhard Bilger. Reprinted by permission of The New Yorker.

A Question of Corvids by Sheila Webster Boneham. First published in Prime Number Magazine, Issue 62, October 2014. Copyright 2014 by Sheila Webster Boneham. Reprinted by permission of Sheila Webster Boneham.

The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness by Rebecca Boyle. First published in Aeon, April 1, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Rebecca Boyle. Reprinted by permission of Rebecca Boyle.

Spotted Hyena by Alison Hawthorne Deming. First published in Orion, Sept/Oct 2014. From Zoologies: On Animals and the Human Spirit by Alison Hawthorne Deming, Milkweed Editions, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Alison Hawthorne Deming. Reprinted with permission from Milkweed Editions, www.milkweed.org.

Life, Death, and Grim Routine Fill the Day at a Liberian Ebola Clinic by Sheri Fink. First published in the New York Times, October 8, 2014. Copyright 2014 by the New York Times (nytimes.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this content without express written permission is prohibited.

No Risky Chances by Atul Gawande. First published in Slate, October 6, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Atul Gawande. Reprinted by permission of Atul Gawande.

Linux for Lettuce by Lisa M. Hamilton. First published in VQR, Summer 2014. Copyright 2014 by Lisa M. Hamilton. Reprinted by permission of Lisa M. Hamilton.

Down by the River by Rowan Jacobsen. First published in Orion, Nov/Dec 2014. Copyright 2014 by Rowan Jacobsen. Reprinted by permission of Rowan Jacobsen.

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison. First published in the Believer, February 2014. From The Empathy Exams: Essays. Copyright 2014 by Leslie Jamison. Reprinted with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Graywolf Press, www.graywolfpress.org.

The Deepest Dig by Brooke Jarvis. First published in California Sunday Magazine, November 2, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Brooke Jarvis. Reprinted by permission of Brooke Jarvis.

Phineas Gage, Neurosciences Most Famous Patient by Sam Kean. First published in Slate, May 6, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Sam Kean. Reprinted by permission of Sam Kean.

At Risk by Jourdan Imani Keith. First published in Orion, Jan/Feb 2014; and Desegregating Wilderness by Jourdan Imani Keith. First published in Orion, September 2014. Copyright 2014 by Jourdan Imani Keith. Reprinted by permission of Jourdan Keith.

Into the Maelstrom by Eli Kintisch. First published in Science, April 18, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Eli Kintisch. Reprinted by permission of Eli Kintisch.

The Big Kill by Elizabeth Kolbert. First published in The New Yorker, December 22, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth Kolbert. Reprinted by permission of Elizabeth Kolbert.

Digging Through the Worlds Oldest Graveyard by Amy Maxmen. First published in Nautilus, Issue 17. Copyright 2014 by Nautilus Magazine. Reprinted by permission of Amy Maxmen and Nautilus magazine.

One of a Kind by Seth Mnookin. First published in The New Yorker, July 21, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Seth Mnookin. Reprinted by permission of Seth Mnookin.

A Pioneer as Elusive as His Particle by Dennis Overbye. First published in the New York Times, September 16, 2014. Copyright 2014 by the New York Times (nytimes.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this content without express written permission is prohibited.

Blood in the Sand by Matthew Power. First published in Outside Magazine, January 2, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Matthew Power. Reprinted by permission of Jessica Benko, Literary Executor of the Estate of Matthew Power.

Chasing Bayla by Sarah Schweitzer. First published in the Boston Globe, October 25, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. Reprinted by permission of Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC.

Partial Recall by Michael Specter. First published in The New Yorker, May 19, 2014. Copyright 2014 by Michael Specter. Reprinted by permission of Michael Specter.

The City and the Sea by Meera Subramanian. First published in Orion, March 2014. Copyright 2014 by Meera Subramanian. Reprinted by permission of Meera Subramanian.

Curious by Kim Todd. First published in River Teeth, Spring 2014. Copyright 2014 by Kim Todd. Reprinted by permission of Kim Todd.

The Aftershocks by David Wolman. First published in Matter, August 24, 2014. Copyright 2014 by David Wolman. Reprinted by permission of David Wolman.

From Billions to None by Barry Yeoman. First published in Audubon, May/June 2014. Copyright 2014 by Barry Yeoman. Reprinted by permission of Barry Yeoman.

W HEN ALBERT EINSTEIN was 16 years old and in his final year of high school, he performed an unusual experiment. He didnt use a laboratory, or any apparatus at all. Instead he conducted what may have been the first of his many Gedankenexperimentethought experiments. He would continue to practice this imaginative yet rigorous sort of musing throughout his life, but in this particular case, the not-yet-iconic thinker wondered what a beam of light would look like if he was running alongside it at the same speed. Many years later, in his Autobiographical Notes, Einstein pointed to that first Gedanken moment as the origin of the ideas that have since transformed our understanding of the nature of space and time.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Einsteins general theory of relativity (and the 15th anniversary of this anthology), so perhaps its not a bad time to engage in some Gedankenexperimente of our own. Heres one: What if the worlds political leaders met and engaged in the same caliber of discourse that scientists do, with the same spirit of collaborative problem solving? Granted, its a proposition far less grounded in reality than Einsteins footrace with light, but lets set aside our incredulity for the moment.