2016 winner: Andrea Wulf, The Invention of Nature
Andrea Wulf was announced as the 29th winner of the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize for The Invention of Nature. A biography of Alexander von Humboldt, her book documents the life of a 'lost hero of science’ who was a visionary polymath and made science accessible and popular to the public.
Chair of judges and former winner of the Prize, Bill Bryson said:
“The decisive factor for the winning book was that it excited and gripped us as judges the most. The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf is a thrilling adventure story as much as a science book about a polymath who had an extraordinary impact on our contemporary understanding of nature. It is a book you will find yourself talking endlessly about with friends in the pub.”