鈥淥ne of the things about being an outsider is that you don鈥檛 have to think of anything to say.鈥� With these words, Philip Ball accepted the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books at a ceremony at the Royal Society in London, UK, adding: 鈥淚f only I鈥檇 put that money on myself at 8 to 1.鈥�
His winning book Critical Mass considers the use of statistics in the attempt to discover new insights into group behaviour and the functioning of society. The book visits many unexpected corners of politics, economics and sociology, and offers a novel take on the links between the history of political philosophy, Newtonian physics and statistical mechanics. The overarching idea that there may be an emerging physics of society is perhaps not completely persuasive, but the journey is intriguing.
The winners from the past few years suggest that the 拢10,000 prize oscillates between broad popularizations, such as the 2004 winner,
Advertisement
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, and books like Critical Mass that attempt to extend the frontiers of what is popularised. Bryson, chair of the 2005 judging panel, said that either way he was looking for books that were 鈥減ainlessly improving鈥�.
He added: 鈥淐ritical Mass is a wide-ranging and dazzlingly informed book about the science of interactions. I can promise you鈥檒l be amazed.鈥� Fellow judge Mark Lythgoe, a neurophysiologist and broadcaster, added that Ball鈥檚 book had 鈥渃hanged my view of the world鈥�.
Tough competition
The favourite for the prize 鈥� among the shortlist of six 鈥� had been Richard Dawkins鈥檚 latest meditation on evolution, The Ancestor鈥檚 Tale, which tracks it back to its origins through the stories of thousands of earlier organisms. Also missing out was Richard Fortey鈥檚 The Earth: An intimate history: an extended tour of how the surface of the planet, and human cultures, have all been shaped by the slow drama of plate tectonics.
The Junior Prize, for books aimed at readers under 14, was partly judged by 75 groups of children from around the UK. In a video of some groups鈥� deliberations David Burnie鈥檚 Endangered Planet aroused most passion, but the winner was Robert Winston for the clarity of presentation of the complex question What Makes Me, Me?
Read New 杏吧原创鈥檚 review of the adult shortlist, including full details of all the books, here.