For a decade, Ecco has published the most outstanding science writing in America, collected in highly acclaimed annual volumes edited by some of the most impressive and most important names in science and science writing today: James Gleick, Timothy Ferris, Matt Ridley, Oliver Sacks, Dava Sobel, Alan Lightman, Atul Gawande, Gina Kolata, Sylvia Nasar, and Natalie Angier.

Now series editor Jesse Cohen invites the previous guest editors to select their favorite essays for this one-of-a-kind anthology. The result is an outstanding compendium--the best science writing of the new millennium, featuring an introduction by the series' 2010 editor and "New York Times" bestselling author of "How Doctors Think," Jerome Groopman.

From climate change to public health, the origins of the universe to the wiring of the human brain, parallel universes to artifical intelligence, the world of science is vast and diverse, offering endless challenges and possibilities which provide new understanding of ourselves, our world, and our universe. The acclaimed "Best American Science Writing" series gathers together the creme de la creme of the year's short works, chosen from a wide variety of publications. Provocative and engaging, "The Best American Science Writing 2012" covers the full spectrum of scientific inquiry - from biochemistry, physics, and astronomy, to genetics, evolutionary theory, and cognition. Edited by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, the New York Times bestselling author of Physics of the Impossible, co-founder of string field theory, and popularizer of science, this next edition in the series provides a comprehensive overview of the year's most compelling, relevant, and exciting scientific developments.