Longlist drawn for Royal Society Prize
16.06.10 | Catherine Neilan and Katie Allen in The Bookseller

Books on evolution, physics, medieval science and climate change are among the 12 titles to have been longlisted for this year's Royal Society Prize for Science Books, which was announced today (16th June).

Faber, Icon and Profile took their place alongside the Oxford and Yale University Presses and larger groups such as Penguin, Little, Brown and Bloomsbury, as well as US publisher Da Capo.

Maggie Philbin, chair of the judges, said: “There were some fascinating books in this year’s entries, all of which explore science in very different ways.  Narrowing it down to just twelve was very challenging and left us with a wonderful, diverse longlist that we’re all looking forward to really getting our teeth into."

Alongside Philbin, the judges comprised professor Tim Birkhead, author Tracy Chevalier, stand-up comedian Robin Ince and Dr Janet Anders, Royal Society University Research Fellow.
This year’s longlist includes eight authors who are new to the prize, three who have been previously shortlisted and one, Steve Jones, who won in 1994.

The shortlist will be announced on 24th August and the winner of the £10,000 prize will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal Society on 21st October. The authors of each shortlisted book will receive £1000.

The organisers added a note saying they were looking for support for next year's award. Speaking to The Bookseller, a spokesperson explained it had been "a couple of years" since the event had had a sponsor. "We've been searching since without success, and are open to negotiations".
He added the award was running on a "year by year" basis, saying it was "possible" it would not continue.

The longlist in full:

We Need To Talk About Kelvin by Marcus Chown (Faber)

Why Does E=mc2? By Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw (Da Capo Press, Perseus Books Group)

Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne (Oxford University Press)

In Search of the Multiverse by John Gribbin (Allen Lane, Penguin Press)

Everyday Practice of Science: Where Intuition and Passion Meet Objectivity and Logic by Frederick Grinnell (Oxford University Press)

God’s Philosophers: How the medieval world laid the foundations of modern science by James Hannam (Icon Books)

Storms of My Grandchildren by James Hansen (Bloomsbury)

Darwin’s Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England by Steve Jones (Little, Brown)

Life Ascending by Nick Lane (Profile Books)

The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist (Yale University Press)

Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell (Oxford University Press)

A World Without Ice by Henry Pollack (Avery Books, Penguin Group)