Since 1988 the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize has celebrated outstanding popular science writing and authors. Open to books written for a non-specialist audience, hundreds of entries are submitted by publishers from all over the world.

Over the decades, the Prize has celebrated some notable winners including Bill Bryson, Stephen Hawking, Brian Greene and most recently Cordelia Fine. Each year our panel of expert judges comprising eminent scientists, authors and media personalities choose the book that they believe makes popular science writing compelling and accessible to the public. Previous judges have included David Attenborough, Terry Pratchett, Ian McEwan, Tracy Chevalier, Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Brian Cox. The winner is announced at a special award ceremony in the autumn.

Cordelia Fine won the 30th anniversary Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize with her powerful book Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of Our Gendered Minds. Judges praised her writing for its eye-opening, forensic look at gender stereotypes and its urgent call for change. 

Click on the boxes below to find out more about the 2017 prize, including the shortlisted titles and 30th anniversary celebrations. 

For all enquiries please contact sciencebooks@royalsociety.org.