The latest compilation of recent popular science writing, it showcases advancements in research but also highlights the importance of fundamental concepts championed by writers like Gould. The compilation considers an assortment of topics in several forms – poems, short pieces, longer essays, book chapters – originating from sources including the ABC, Cosmos Magazine, New Scientist, The Monthly, various Australian newspapers, and a few online magazines.

Editor John Pickrell As Pickrell points out, physics and mathematics are featured topics in this year’s edition. Being an ecologist, I approached these with a little apprehension. My fears were quickly allayed by the quality and clarity of the writing. I was especially taken by Margaret Wertheim’s fascinating piece on dimensions, in which she elegantly describes how the universe may comprise eleven dimensions or perhaps many more. To be honest, my head started spinning at one stage, but Wertheim’s considered prose managed to reduce it to a mere rocking from side to side. Rod Taylor’s short, humorous thought-game about travelling through a hole in the centre of the earth (don’t try it!) proved that complicated physical and mathematical concepts can be a lot of fun. Richard Guilliatt’s profile of physicist and Australian of the Year Michelle Simmons (who wrote the book’s foreword) taught me, among other things, that great things are often done by the humblest people.

Pleasingly, many articles deal with environmental issues: the seriously worrying loss of Tasmanian kelp beds; how volcanic eruptions changed the climate and reduced the flow of rivers in Ancient Egypt, causing conflict; the microflora and -fauna of Parisian street gutters; and how Melissa Ashley learned the process of stuffing birds in an attempt to engage with the ornithologist and artist Elizabeth Gould. Ben Walter’s lyrical article on visiting Tasmania’s Tarkine forest to understand the role of climate change in altering fire regimes was refreshing. It presented an honest reflection of the complexity of environmental issues: causes are not simple, and neither are solutions. I loved Rick Shine’s ‘A new toolkit for fighting the toad’, which enthusiastically described key events in the discovery of the Achilles heel of the amphibian we love to hate.

I am often frustrated by the dominance of medicine in science media reports in Australia. Sometimes it seems as if the only science of any note is the latest cancer drug or a new superfood. So it was a relief to have relatively few of these in The Best Australian Science Writing 2018. The ones there bucked my preconceptions: they are well-written, engaging, and deep. Carl Smith’s description of the bionic body-part wave that is set to break – in a good way – was inspiring, as was Michael Slezak’s revelation about how former Australian chief scientist Ian Chubb is personally benefiting from some of the pioneering research on immunotherapy. Jo Chandler’s extensive coverage of the fight against polio in Nigeria in the face of terrorism was scary but inspiring. Elizabeth Finkel helped me to navigate the labyrinth that is medical cannabis. Special mention must go to federal parliamentarian Andrew Leigh for his fascinating history of how randomised medical trials literally save lives. I now have a much greater respect for placebos than I had before. Leigh claims that he lives his life following meta-studies that have truly tested the effects of drugs and procedures.

The format of The Best Australian Science Writing can be frustrating: with a little tweaking, its reach and longevity might be extended. Many of the contributions, when originally published, were illustrated, which enriches any article on science. For example, Robyn Arianrhod’s article, ‘The origins of entanglement’, was first published in Cosmos Magazine (as ‘Einstein, Bohr and the origins of entanglement’) and carried a wonderful photograph of physicists Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein at the 1927 Solvay Congress in Brussels. In the anthology we simply get this text: ‘Bohr looks thoughtful, hand on his chin, while Einstein is leaning back looking relaxed and dreamy.’ Strangely, only Wertheim’s piece is illustrated.

Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein during the Fifth Solvay Congress in December, 1925, taken at Paul Ehrenfest's home in Leiden (photograph by Paul Ehrenfest/Wikimedia Commons)

Articles might also be organised thematically, with a one-sentence description of each article beneath the sometimes obscure titles. Perhaps the omission of these components saves costs, but I am all for anything that brings excellent popular science writing like this to a wider audience.