cover image The Best of Technology Writing

The Best of Technology Writing

. University of Michigan Press, $17.95 (287pp) ISBN 978-0-472-03195-5

Who lives in a world of swimming robots, rocket belts and cloning? It turns out that everyone does. In this revealing collection of the year's best tech writing-articles that, ""for all of their byzantine details,"" make the human connection-there are plenty of surprises for techies and casual readers alike. Culled by Koerner, with the help of online participants, from such diverse print and electronic media as Technology Review, Wired, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, Salon and Slate, the threads that hold these pieces together are fine writing and fascinating subjects. Stories here cover the prescient (Farhad Majoo's ""Throwing Google at the Book""), the historical (Alex Ross's ""The Record Effect""), the irreverent (David Bernstein's ""When the Sous-Chef is an Inkjet"") and the wacky (Justin Mullins's ""Ups and Downs of Jetpacks""), repeatedly touching on developments in art, food, health and the intersection of global and local culture. Some of the articles can be difficult to penetrate-one disappointment is Evan Ratliff's story of Russian cyber-security, ""The Zombie Hunters""-but the great majority of these 24 pieces prove fun and engaging.