Good science writing makes us feel. It makes us delight inthe discovery of a black hole munching on a star, laugh at the image of alienspuzzling over golf balls on the Moon, wonder at the mystery of the Spanishinfluenza's deadly rampage, grieve for baby shearwater chicks dying withplastic-filled stomachs, rage at the loss of the Great Barrier Reef and cheerfor the clitoris' long-overdue scientific debut.

This ninth edition of The Best Australian Science Writingshowcases the most powerful, insightful and brilliant essays and poetry fromAustralian writers and scientists. It roams the length and breadth of science,revealing how a ceramic artist is helping to save the handfish, what is sodangerous about the hype around artificial intelligence and whether too muchexercise is bad for the heart. It makes us think, feel and hopefully act.

'Reading good science writing is not just pleasurable and informative: it's also necessary if we want to live engaged and examined lives in today's hyper-technological, climate-changing world...I enjoyed every piece.' - Robyn Arianrhod, Australian Book Review