The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025

Susan Orlean—the beloved New Yorker staff writer and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Rin Tin Tin, The Orchid Thief, and On Animals—selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in 2024.

The Best American series, launched in 1915, is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction, and it is the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.

New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean selects twenty pieces that represent the best science and nature writing published the previous year and explores our ever-changing world.