The Best of David Brin by David Brin is a very highly recommended collection of 21 science fiction short stories and novellas spanning 1982 - 2020. Those who love and enjoy Brin's work will appreciate this retrospective collection. Those who are new to Brin's writing will become fans after reading this introduction to his work and discovering the breadth and scope of his writing. As with any compilation of stories, some are stronger than others when comparing them side by side, but each of them represents an outstanding example of hard science fiction stories. Brin is known for his skillful world building and the inclusion of science in his stories without sacrificing great, imaginative plots and character development. His skill is exemplified in many of these stories. (Rather than reading all these stories in one sitting I spread the enjoyment out to better appreciate what each narrative had to offer. This was a smart move as it precluded a lot of comparison between wildly different stories.)
After a personal introduction by Catherine Asaro, the stories are sorted into seven sections. Contents include:
Lift your gaze!: Insistence of Vision; The Crystal Spheres; The Loom of Thessaly; Transition Generation
It’s alive! So be wary: The Giving Plague; Chrysalis; Dr. Pak’s Preschool; Piecework
Persevere! (Tales of the Coss): The Logs; Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss
Things may just get weird: Detritus Affected; Mars Opposition; Toujours Voir; The River of Time
Light. Let it shine!: The Tell; The Escape
Prevailing... despite everything: The Postman; A Need for Heroes; Thor Meets Captain America
And good news may get... complicated: Stones of Significance; Reality Check

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Subterranean Press.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/07/the-best-of-david-brin.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4134879798 ( )

Short story collection (ranging from a few pages to the novella that became the first part of The Postman). Speculative fiction in the classic sense; my favorite was the story about the geneticist who worked to reawaken now-useless DNA, first to help us regrow organs and later for a much more complex purpose, ignoring what the biologists would have told him. ( )