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Royal Society Prize 2008

Read more about this year's prestigious Royal Society Prize (formerly the Aventis Prize), arguably the best popular science books published in 2007. All these books are worth a look - it's a superb collection, but also take a look at our alternative list (which we think is even better!). See also the junior list.

Click on the book name to see the review. We are yet to review books without a rating below, but you can still click on the Amazon buttons to find out more. For books we have reviewed, click on the review or the book name to find out more or buy at Amazon.

A Life Decoded	Craig Venter		LONG LIST
Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving: How Chemistry can Help You Achieve Life's Goals	John Emsley		LONG LIST
Coral: A pessimist in paradise	Steve Jones		LONG LIST
How to Fossilize Your Hamster	Mick O'Hare		LONG LIST
Making Up the Mind	Chris Frith		LONG LIST
Six degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet	Mark Lynas	An important book - graphically tells of the impact of one to six degrees of temperature rise on the planet. Gets a little repetitious, but still important.	WINNER
The Stuff of Thought	Steven Pinker		LONG LIST
The Sun Kings	Stuart Clark	Well-written and enjoyable history of discoveries about the Sun and its influence on the Earth from renaissance times.	LONG LIST
Why Beauty is Truth	Ian Stewart		LONG LIST
Why the Lion Grew its Mane	Lewis Smith		LONG LIST
Yes! 50 secrets from the science of persuasion	Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini	Some excellent insights from scientific studies of how people behave that help persuade them to act in a particular way. More business book than science, but very good nonetheless.	LONG LIST

Our own longlist

The Royal Society Prize longlist doesn't necessarily cover the best popular science books out in 2007 - take a look at our alternative list, which features books that should have made it, but didn't:

10 Questions Science Can't Answer (Yet)	Michael Hanlon	A truly thought-provoking and fascinating exploration of areas of science that aren't fully understood, from dark matter to why so many people are fat.	Overview
Digging up the Dead	Druin Burch	Riveting, if occasionally stomach churning biography of the top surgeon from around 1800, Astley Cooper. Highly recommended.	Human Science
The Equation that Couldn't be Solved	Mario Livio	Brilliant popular maths coverage of group theory and symmetry, throwing in a quick history of algebra. Highly approachable with excellent historical context.	Mathematics
Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You [The Quantum Zoo]	Marcus Chown	The best introduction to quantum physics and relativity we've seen with some superb examples and great explanation	Physics
The Tiger that Isn't	Michael Blastland & Andrew Dilnot	Brilliant excursion into the way we misuse and misunderstand numbers and statistics, and how to see around it.	Maths
The Time Traveller	Ronald Mallett & Bruce Henderson	Moving and highly readable story of a physicist's mission to build a time machine to visit his dead father - just finishes a bit too soon.	Physics

The General Prize is for the best book written for a general adult readership.

The General Prize is chosen by a panel of five judges. They whittle down all the entries to around twelve books - the longlist - then six books - the shortlist. On the day of the award ceremony they then convene one final time to pick the winner.

The judges

Professor Jonathon Ashmore FRS, Department of Physiology, University College London (chair)
Dr Brian Cox, Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Manchester and CERN
Ffion Hague, author
Fiona Macrae, science correspondent, The Daily Mail
Professor Iain Stewart, School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth

The six books selected by the Junior Prize judging panel are:

Ask Dr K Fisher about Animals by Claire Llewellyn, illustrated by Kate Sheppard (Kingfisher)
The judges said: "A wonderfully novel approach to delivering science. Written in the style of a problem page Ask Dr Fisher about Animals offers guidance to concerned animals on appearance, growing up, dating and diet."
Big book of science things to make and do by Rebecca Gilpin and Leonie Pratt (Usborne)
The judges said: "A good doing' book. With so many practical activities to engage children they won't be able to put this book down!"
How the incredible human body works by the Brainwaves , by Richard Walker and illustrated by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar (Dorling Kindersley)
The judges said: "Impressively explanatory, this book is a novel way of drawing children into science. The art work and detail are superb."
It's Elementary! Putting the crackle into chemistry by Robert Winston (Dorling Kindersley)
The judges said: "We thought it was difficult to present chemistry in an engaging way but this book succeeds splendidly."
Serious Survival: How to Poo in the Arctic and other essential tips by Marshall Corwin (HarperCollins)
The judges said: "A science by the back door approach but which still manages to include a great wealth of information that will keep children captivated."
Why is Snot Green? Science Museum Question and Answer Book , by Glenn Murphy (Macmillan)
The judges said: "This book is fundamentally what science is about. A good why' book for children with inquisitive minds."

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