The Best Australian Science Writing 2022
About this ebook
Great science writing has the ability to make us captive bystanders to the complexities of research. It makes us ask questions, and sustains in us an infinite curiosity about our world.
Science writing also brings into sharp focus stories that surprise and compel us to pay attention to parts of the world often unseen, from a dusty gold mine which could help answer one of the biggest questions in astrophysics to a delightful date with the misunderstood blobfish.
This much-loved anthology – now in its twelfth year – selects the most riveting, entertaining, poignant and fascinating science stories and essays from Australian writers, poets and scientists.
With a foreword by health broadcaster and author Dr Norman Swan, this anthology covers another remarkable year filled with seismic moments in science.
Includes the shortlisted entries for the 2022 UNSW Press Bragg Prize and the 2021 student prize-winning essay.
About the author
Ivy Shih is a science writer, audio producer and illustrator. A former researcher, she now writes about all areas of science, from coconut-cracking megabats to giant viruses. Her work has been featured in Nature, ABC, Cosmos Magazine, Hakai, multiple editions of The Best Australian Science Writing anthology and more. She is also a producer on the ABC astronomy podcast Cosmic Vertigo. She loves finding stories in unexpected places and exploring the crossover between science and society.
Trained in paediatrics, Dr Norman Swan was one of the first medically qualified journalists in Australia, with a broadcast career spanning more than 30 years. He currently hosts Radio National's The Health Report and co-hosts Coronacast. He also reports on 7.30 and is a guest reporter on Four Corners; appears on The Drum and is an occasional host of Radio National Breakfast. In addition to being an active journalist and health broadcaster, Dr Swan has a deep strategic knowledge of the Australian healthcare system and is committed to evidence-based approaches to help young people, which is why he sits on the board of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. He was also the co-founder of Tonic Media Network, a health channel that plays in GPs' waiting rooms.
