Royal Society announces judging panel for 2024 Trivedi Science Book Prize

The Royal Society has today unveiled the judging panel, selected from the worlds of science, culture and the media, for this year’s Trivedi Science Book Prize. 

This year’s chair will be Professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College and Royal Society Fellow Professor John Hutchinson. He will be joined by Booker Prize-winning author and screenwriter Eleanor Catton; New Scientist Comment and Culture Editor Alison Flood; teacher, broadcaster and writer Bobby Seagull; and lecturer in Functional Materials at Imperial College London, and Royal Society University Research Fellow, Dr Jess Wade.

Now in its 37th year, the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, supported by the Trivedi Family Foundation, celebrates the best popular science writing across the globe. 

The prize highlights the important role of science literature in helping mainstream audiences understand some of the complex scientific challenges facing society today.

Over the past three decades, the prize has championed non-fiction books that celebrate the collective joy of science writing, shining a light on innovative and pioneering research in an accessible and engaging way. Previous winning titles cover diverse themes, ranging from the sensory experiences of animals to the evolution of all life on earth, and a fresh perspective on human behaviour and relationships. Recent winners include Ed Yong, Henry Gee, Merlin Sheldrake, Camilla Pang, and Caroline Criado Perez. 

In 2024, the judging panel will once again search for the most captivating title of the past year, at a time in which the influences of rapid scientific innovation increasingly shape our culture.

A shortlist of six titles, selected from a total of 254 submissions published between 1 July 2023 and 30 September 2024, will be announced live as part of an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 12 August. The winner will be revealed at a ceremony at the Royal Society on 24 October, where they will be presented with a cheque for £25,000. Each of the five shortlisted authors will receive a cheque for £2,500.

Chair of judges, Professor John Hutchinson FRS, said: 

“It is a pleasure to serve as Judging Panel Chair for the esteemed 2024 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. When I was a young person, I immensely benefitted from my public and school libraries’ stocks of science books, which kindled and maintained my interest in science and nature. I won’t forget how Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” woke me up, at about 12 years of age, to environmentalism, which remains a passion. During my undergraduate years, palaeontologist Stephen Jay Gould’s popular science books convinced me that I wanted to pursue a career studying evolutionary patterns and processes. Now we live in an age when 250-word social media posts have potency to reach the world instantly, but books maintain their staying power in reinforcing and disseminating what information is the most reliable. Deciding the best science books of the year is a wonderful challenge, a pleasure and an opportunity to be part of this process and thereby to support the communication of science.”

Ashok Trivedi, President of the Trivedi Family Foundation which supports the Prize in a five-year partnership, said: 

“Science books have the ability to inspire and help us better understand the world we live in. We can discover new ideas but also challenge what we already know through science writing. It is a pleasure to continue supporting this prestigious Prize and celebrate authors who bring passion and creativity into their work.”

Find out more about the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.