Image: Royal Society
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘Capture the Creativity’
As more book contests line up with their long- and shortlists for the annual collision of winners’ announcements in the autumn, the United Kingdom’s Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize this evening (August 13)—once more at the Edinburgh International Book Festival—is releasing its six-title shortlist.
The event in Edinburgh was, at this writing, expected to feature the paleontologist Steve Brusatte and the co-winner of last year’s Trivedi-sponsored honor, Kelly Weinersmith (A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? from Penguin Random House, November 2023.)
None of this year’s shortlisted writers is making a return, and each publication chosen by the jury was released within the last 12 months.
Perhaps among the best known of the authors shortlisted this year is Neil Schubin, whose Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA was published in March 2020 by Juliet Mabey’s Oneworld, which also is the publisher of his newly shortlisted Ends of the Earth.
The winner of this year’s award is scheduled to be revealed on the evening of October 1, when she or he will be presented with a purse of £25,000 (US$33,567). Each of the remaining five shortlisted authors is to receive £2,500 (US$3,356).
The Trivedi Science Book Prize 2025 Shortlist
The shortlist has been selected from a total 254 submissions.
| Author | Title | Publisher / Imprint |
| Neil Shubin | Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and our Future | Oneworld |
| Daniel Levitin | Music as Medicine: How We Can Harness Its Therapeutic Power | Penguin Random House / Cornerstone Press |
| Masud Husain | Our Brains, Our Selves: What a Neurologist’s Patients Taught Him About the Brain | Canongate |
| Simon Parkin | The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad: A True Story of Science and Sacrifice in a City Under Siege | Hachette UK / Sceptre |
| Sadiah Qureshi | Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction | Penguin Random House / Allen Lane |
| Tim Minshall | Your Life is Manufactured: How We Make Things, Why It Matters and How We Can Do It Better | Faber |
In a comment from Natural History Museum botanist Sandra Knapp, chair of this year’s jury, we read, “The best science books don’t simply present facts or explain theories, they tell stories. They capture the creativity, determination and sacrifices involved in deepening our understanding of the world.
Sandra Knapp
“The six books we’ve chosen for this year’s shortlist demonstrate just that.
“They explore how science shapes, and is shaped by, our culture, history, and environment, tackling topics that span from mental health and identity to the future of the planet, and the scientific legacies of war and colonialism. They show that science is not a fixed body of knowledge, but a process that is messy, dynamic, and at its core, deeply human.”
Knapp is joined on the panel by author Val McDermid; actor Nick Mohammed; Cambridge associate professor of astronomy Amy Bonsor; former shortlistee and structural engineer on the Shard in London, Roma Agrawal; and New Scientist news editor Jacob Aron.
Sir Adrian Smith
Speaking for the Royal Society, its president, Sir Adrian Smith says, “Science is increasingly central to our everyday lives, shaping how we live, work, and understand the world around us, yet it is often perceived as difficult or distant.
“The Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize champions books that demonstrate that science belongs to all of us. They connect the frontiers of research with everyday life, placing science not in the margins, but at the heart of culture, alongside history, poetry, art and music.
“In doing so, this year’s shortlist upholds the values that define science at its best: openness, rigor, collaboration, and a relentless curiosity about the world and our place in it.”
Editor’s note: Daniel Levitin’s shortlisted book—Music as Medicine: How We Can Harness Its Therapeutic Power—was initially listed with an incorrect title. We regret the error, which referenced another Penguin publication by Emily Callaci, currently longlisted for the Cundill History Prize.
More from us on publishing and book awards in the international industry is here, and more on the Royal Science Book Award is here.
Wherever our readers are in the world, they use our free daily email to be sure they don’t miss a story. Sign up now.