The Royal Society has unveiled the shortlist for its Trivedi Science Book Prize, given annually to a book of “outstanding popular science writing.”
Every Last Fish: A Deep Dive Into Everything They Do for Us and We Do to Them by Rose George was named a finalist, as were Hidden Guests: Migrating Cells and How the New Science of Microchimerism Is Redefining Human Identity, written by Lise Barnéoud and translated by Bronwyn Haslam, and How To Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest To Alter the Past by Steve Ramirez.
Kit Chapman made the shortlist for The Age of Alchemy: The Secret History of Chemistry From Ancient Magic to Modern Science, alongside Deborah Cohen for Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health and Fred Pearce for Despite It All: A Handbook for Climate Hopefuls.
Mike Benton, chair of the judging panel, said in a statement, “A good science book has the power to change your life, and that’s just what these shortlisted books might do. If you read them carefully, you will discover things you didn’t know before and that will make you reevaluate the way you look at your future and the future of our planet.”
The Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize was established in 1988. Previous winners include Bill Bryson for A Short History of Nearly Everything, Gaia Vince for Adventures in the Anthropocene: A Journey to the Heart of the Planet We Made, and Ed Yong for An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.
The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on Sept. 29 at a ceremony in London.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
