The Open Laboratory

The Science Blogging Anthology – the Great Unveiling!

Coturnix over at A Blog Around the Clock has just finished editing the new anthology of science blogging. Through the mercurial quickness of on-demand publishing, the book is available as a physical object through Lulu less than a month after its conception. Astonishing, really.

Some of the praiseworthy posts that were included:

PZ Myers on why genes may be less interesting than the regulations that govern them

The Panda’s Thumb on why the mammalian eye is dumb, not intelligent, design

The Neurophilosopher on discovering that the neuron is the discrete unit of the nervous system

Dr. Charles on. . . well, it’s hard to summarize Dr. Charles.

I didn’t see a single post listed that wasn’t worth reading. The excellence of the science blogosphere is a little scary. The cover art is also outstanding – it’s like a DNA playground slide with happy molecules playing on it. Aw! Unfortunately I don’t know the name of the artist, but great work.

So why buy this anthology, rather than browsing the blogs? Well, I hope we all still enjoy reading traditional books better than a computer screen (especially when they run to 336 pages). It’s a way to support some excellent writers and a great project (though as I understand it, there’s little if any profit involved). So buy the book and drop by the blogs, and then everyone will be happy. And informed. Isn’t that what’s important? That’s what I thought.