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The 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize recognizes the best of science writing for a non-specialist audience. The shortlist was announced August 27.

The author of the winning book receives £25,000 and £2,500 is awarded to each of the five shortlisted books. The winner is announced at a special award ceremony in the autumn.   

Shortlist 2019

• Clearing the Air by Tim Smedley
• Infinite Powers by Steven Strogatz
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• The Remarkable Life of the Skin by Monty Lyman
• The Second Kind of Impossible by Paul J. Steinhardt  
• Six Impossible Things by John Gribbin

The title links lead to full articles about the finalists.

Chair of this year’s judging panel, Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, principal and professorial research fellow in computer science at Jesus College, University of Oxford, said:

This year’s shortlist is a great collection of popular science writing. Each book on the list presents an area of science that is fascinating, enthralling and important: from the mysteries of the quantum universe to the air we breathe, from the way that data encodes bias to the skin that is our largest organ, from the infinite power of calculus to new kinds of matter, our shortlist will appeal to all.

Within these titles we encounter triumph and tragedy, hope and despair, enlightenment and enduring mysteries. The writers share great stories, rooted in outstanding research. They open up our understanding of the world in which we live and remind us of the important discoveries taking place around us every day.

The members of this year’s judging panel are:

Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt FRS (Chair)

Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt is one of the UK’s foremost computer scientists.

Dr Shukry James Habib 

Dr Shukry James Habib is a Principal Investigator and a Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King’s College London and a member of the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform.

Dorothy Koomson

Dorothy Koomson is an internationally bestselling author whose award-winning novels include the Sunday Times bestsellers The Friend, That Girl from Nowhere, The Ice Cream Girls, The Woman He Loved Before, The Chocolate Run and My Best Friend’s Girl.

Stephen McGann

Stephen McGann has worked extensively in British theatre and on screen. He is currently starring as Dr Turner in the BBC’s global hit Call the Midwife.

Gwyneth Williams

Gwyneth Williams is the Controller of BBC Radio 4 and 4 Extra (2010 to present).