I read Lab Girl not too long ago, and when I was looking for an essay collection that I could read in the very small amounts of free time I currently have, I decided it might be enjoyable to pick up this collection. And overall, I did enjoy a lot of the essays and articles in this collection. I will mention, though, that I hadn't really expected the pieces to focus so heavily on (1) climate and (2) women in academia/science. Both of these issues are really important, but it did make for a fair number of pretty heavy articles.

A couple of my favorites:
- "Altered Tastes" (Maria Konnikova)--on haute cuisine and how insights from food science and neuroscience might be used to enhance the recipes we use
- "How Factory Farms Play Chicken with Antibiotics" (Tom Philpott)--on antibiotic use in factory farming, especially in how some chicken companies are modifying their approaches to antibiotic use
- "The DIY Scientist, the Olympian, and the Mutated Gene" (David Epstein)--by the author of The Sports Gene, on a gene linked both to muscular dystrophy and athleticism
- "The Amateur Cloud Society that (Sort of) Rattled the Scientific Community" (Jon Mooallem)--on clouds and a cloud society and meteorology and life

I'm definitely glad I read it! I've been reading it super slowly, but I'm glad that it was worth it. ( )

Another great edition. Jahren's tastes in topic areas match my own. Likewise the prose is well written, they are quality long form articles all, not a dud in the bunch. Though nothing really stood out as classic, but that is OK. My favorite is "The DIY scientist, the Olympian, and the mutated gene" by David Epstein. The biographical profiles are fascinating, people I probably wouldn't want to read a full book about, but a magazine length article is perfect.

Contents: The art of saving relics / Sarah Everts -- Altered tastes / Maria Konnikova -- The secrets of the wave pilots / Kim Tingley -- The billion-year wave / Nicola Twilley -- The case for leaving city rats alone / Becca Cudmore -- The battle for Virunga / Robert Draper -- The new harpoon / Tom Kizzia -- A song of ice / Elizabeth Kolbert -- Something uneasy in the Los Angeles air / Adrian Glick Kudler -- Dark science / Omar Mouallem -- The parks of tomorrow / Michelle Nijhuis -- How factory farms play chicken with antibiotics / Tom Philpott -- The invisible catastrophe / Nathaniel Rich -- The devil is in the details / Christopher Solomon -- The physics pioneer who walked away from it all / Sally Davies -- The DIY scientist, the Olympian, and the mutated gene / David Epstein -- Inside the breakthrough starshot mission to Alpha Centauri / Ann Finkbeiner -- He fell in love with his grad student-- then fired her for it / Azeen Ghorayshi -- The woman who might find us another Earth / Chris Jones -- Out here, no one can hear you scream / Katrhryn Joyce -- The amateur cloud society that (sort of) rattled the scientific community / Jon Mooallem -- The man who gave himself away / Michael Regnier -- Unfriendly climate / Sonia Smith -- It’s time these ancient women scientists get their due / Emily Temple-Wood ( )