And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. For those who thought that voting for the best blog post was, well, unscientific, here’s a roundup of what was popular using cold, hard numbers.

Most comments

Peering back into the archive, we’ve rounded up the top ten NN posts of all time based on number of comments (actually a top nine consisting of 12 posts because of six with the same number of comments – don’t you just love stats?!).

Of course, this isn’t necessarily a measure of excellence either. We all know that comment threads can digress in unexpected ways, unconnected with the original post. Brian Clegg’s post is a special case in point.

As a measure of blog quality, comment number is as flawed yet compelling a metric as impact factors are for journals. Yet comments are the lifeblood of a blog. Anticipation of a response can keep a blogger going. And we can’t resist rounding up the big hitters in the hope of attracting our own comments below…

1. In which the data back up our habitual suspicions, Jenny Rohn, 327 comments

2. On Open Access, Richard Grant, 163 comments

3. In which I feel the womanly force, Jenny Rohn, 149 comments

4. In which I indulge in some Limey trivia, Jenny Rohn, 147 comments

5. On the Nature of Networking, Richard Grant, 143 comments

6= The drugs don’t work, Richard Grant, 138 comments

6= Working the system, Brian Clegg, 138 comments

8. Flags of our Daughters, Stephen Curry, 137 comments

9= In which I rhapsodize over my instruments, Jenny Rohn, 129 comments

9= In which science becomes a sport – hypothetically speaking, Jenny Rohn, 129 comments

9= On depression – a personal perspective, Richard Grant, 129 comments

9= On the Nature of Faith: Part 1, Richard Grant, 129 comments

Jenny and Richard are comment-provoking queen and king. In the top 30, sixteen of the most commented posts are by Jenny and six by Richard who between them cover topics ranging from gender roles in science to religion and depression.

Most views 2009

The following top ten shows the posts with the most views over the past year. Naturally, this favours posts which have been up longest, although most traffic to any given post tends to come around the time of posting. The black art of Search Engine Optimisation also plays something of a role here – note how Henry’s “The Brain of the Squirrel” article appears in the top ten Google results if you search for “squirrel brain”.

1. The Brain of the Squirrel, Henry Gee

2. Cromer is SO Bracing – Sunday, Henry Gee

3. What I Think About When I Think About Manuscripts, Henry Gee

4. Surreal Estate, Henry Gee

5. British Astronauts?, Jeff Marlow

6. Using Google Wave for a week – it’s still great!, Martin Fenner

7. SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX, Henry Gee

8. The impact of the Impact Factor, Barry Hudson

9. What is the Semantic Web really all about?, James Hendler

10. All the Zees, from Zimmer to Zivkovic, Henry Gee

Henry rules 2009, with six of the top ten. But the list also includes a few entries from some less prominent Nature Network bloggers.

Most views 2008

1. The brain of the squirrel, Henry Gee

2. The politics of apes, Anna Kushnir

3. British astronauts?, Jeff Marlow

4. Who’s next?, Henry Gee

5. Confessions of an English iPhone addict, Henry Gee

6. Say it with flowers…give her a triffid, Henry Gee

7. Sex education, viktor Poor

8. If only I’d had a magic results machine in 1836, Charles Darwin

9. Happy birthday Nature Network, M@ Brown/Corie Lok

10. Things you can learn from Cheetos, Anna Kushnir

Again, Henry comes out king in 2008 with four entries in the top ten.

Most views 2007

1. Bigging up Beowulf, Henry Gee

2. Stem cells and cancer once again, David Basanta

3. Pink hair and the working world, Anna Kushnir

4. Email signatures: the new bumper sticker, Paul Wicks

5. Storm in a teacup or dark conspiracy?, Euan Adie

6. Questions for Larry and Sergey, Duncan Hull

7. Stop the project mayhem, Andrew Sun

8. Nature network horoscope – your stars for November, Henry Gee

9. Stripped science (unknown entry), Viktor Poor

10. No girrafes on unicycles beyond this point, Henry Gee

And once again Dr Gee triumphs in 2007. Note that only one of the five posts we featured in the best of each year’s poll is included in the top tens here. Did we overlook some other gems?

So, enough number crunching, time to wrap our teeth around some mince pies instead…Do let us know your thoughts on the lists in the comments.