Aventis Prizes for Science Books 2001

Artificial life, depression, the story of ocean science and the dream that led to the discovery of the periodic table were among the subjects covered in the shortlist for the General Prize of the Aventis Prizes for Science Books 2001, chosen from a record-breaking list of 179 submissions. The Prizes--often called the scientific community's answer to the Booker Prize--were established in 1988 by the Science Museum and COPUS to encourage the writing, publishing and sale of popular science books for non-specialist readers. They are sponsored by the Aventis-Institut de France Foundation. The shortlisted authors were presented with £1,000 prizes. The winners of the General Prize and the Junior Prize both won £10,000. The judges for 2001 were Sir David Weatherall FRS (Chair), Anjana Ahuja (Science, technology and health features writer, The Times ), Dr Maggie Gee (Novelist) and Professor Kevin Warwick (Professor of Cybernetics, University of Reading).