The Best American Science Writing 2010 contains 22 essays culled from the pages of popular magazines such as Scientific American, The Atlantic, Discover, Wired, and Science. The collection has a decidedly Big Apple feel; 40% of the essays originally appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The New York Times Magazine.
The science presented in this anthology ranges from the vast (astronomy) to the tiny (grains of sand) to the infinitesimally small (recombinant DNA). As is customary with these kinds of compilations, Darwin gets his due. Some essays focus on evolution, natural selection, and extreme extinction. Medical science receives ample attention also.