Published: 16 Jul 2024 | Last Updated: 16 Jul 2024 09:29:03

The Royal Veterinary College’s (RVC) Professor John Hutchinson has today been announced as Chair of Judges for the Royal Society’s 2024 Trivedi Science Book Prize. Now in its 37^th year, the prize, supported by the Trivedi Family Foundation, highlights the importance of science literature in helping mainstream audiences understand many of the complex scientific challenges facing the modern world.

Over the past 30 years, the prize has celebrated the best popular science writing from around the world. It has highlighted non-fiction books that shine a light on innovative and pioneering research in an accessible and engaging way. Previous winners have included books on themes such as, sensory experiences of animals, the evolution of life on earth and a fresh perspective on human behaviour and relationships.

This year, the judging panel, chaired by Professor John Hutchinson, Professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics at the RVC and Royal Society Fellow, includes 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.

Together, the judges will consider the six shortlisted titles, which were selected from 254 submissions published between 1^st July 2023 and 30^th September 2024, to determine the most captivating title which has helped shape our understanding of scientific innovation and culture.

Professor John Hutchinson, Professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics at the RVC, Royal Society Fellow and chair of judges, said:

“It is a pleasure to serve as Judging Panel Chair for the esteemed 2024 Royal Society 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 the 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, 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.”

The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal Society on 24^th October and will receive a cheque for £25,000. Each of the five shortlisted authors will also be awarded £2,500.

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact:

• Jasmin De Vivo devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
• Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London. 
• It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada. 
• The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2024. 
• The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences. 
• The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. 
• The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire. 

About the Royal Society

The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine. The Society’s fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. Follow the Royal Society on Twitter (@royalsociety) or on Facebook (facebook.com/theroyalsociety).

About the Trivedi Family Foundation

The Trivedi Family Foundation, established in 2015, supports numerous charitable causes focusing on education, healthcare (advancement of biological sciences) and cultural inclusivity. Charitable causes include multiple initiatives at Ashoka University, a private research university with a focus on humanities and natural sciences, located in the National Capital Region of India. In 2015, the Trivedi Center for Political Data was set up at Ashoka University to help build datasets and authoritative knowledge on India’s political life, and to diffuse the same via an open-access platform. The Center has also partnered with Yale and the University of Michigan.

In addition, the Trivedi School of Biosciences was launched in early 2020 as a cornerstone to the university's natural sciences program. The school is set to focus on research in emerging areas in biology such as disease biology, inflammation biology, and synthetic biology.

The Trivedi Family Foundation also supports Project Art, a non-profit programme in the United States, to teach after-school art classes to underprivileged youth in public libraries across the country. It is also actively involved in supporting the mission of STEM Coding Lab, to provide underserved children with computer education to face the digital world. Additional causes supported by the Trivedi Family Foundation include Project Why, an after-school programme focusing on bridging the education gap for underprivileged children in New Delhi and Maverick Next, which aims to advance health and reproductive rights for women in developing nations. The Trivedi Family Foundation has also partnered with Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital (Florida, USA) in support of paediatric programmes and families.