The Science Times Book of Fish

Readers of the "Science Times" section on Tuesdays in the New York Times are familiar with the high-quality features to be found there. Now the best science and nature articles have been collected in a series of books on Fish, Birds, Fossils and Evolution, and The Brain.

The fish book includes chapters on the evolution of fishes, fresh- and salt-water species, endangered animals, and other aquatic organisms. The list of contributors includes such Science Times regulars as Natalie Angier, William K. Stevens, and William J. Broad, as well as notable occasionals like Gina Kolata. The writing is generally superb, with nary a trace of the oversimplification and inaccuracy that plagues scientific journalism. But these pieces were all originally newspaper articles, and they read that way, complete with sidebars and diagrams. The breadth of topic is great--everything from otolith (ear-bone) interpretation to social behavior, overfishing to snail toxin. A nice collection of 44 articles for the fish-curious or for ichthyologists who have a fat file of Times clippings. --Therese Littleton