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Aventis Prize 2006

Read more about this year's prestigious Aventis Prize, arguably the best popular science books published in 2005. All these books are worth a look - it's a superb collection, but also take a look at our alternative list (which we think is even better!).

Click on the book name to see the review. We are yet to review books without a rating below, but you can still click on the Amazon buttons to find out more. For books we have reviewed, click on the review or the book name to find out more or buy at Amazon.

David Bodanis	Electric Universe	Excellent as a teen introduction to the wonders of electricity, but a bit too gushing for some adults.
Jared Diamond	Collapse - How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive	A study of why societies fail catastrophically and how it's all too easy to go over the edge. Very good stuff, but overly academic.
John Emsley	Elements of Murder	A history of the use of several key elements from mercury to lead in poisonings - fascinating stories and surprisingly interesting
Peter Forbes	The Gecko's Foot	Wonderful examples of the potential for nature to inspire remarkable new technology, particularly at the nano level. Highly recommended
George Gilder	The Silicon Eye	Meet some unknown but essential characters of the silicon revolution and join their journey, attempting to take a whole new approach to digital cameras. More business biography than popular science, but still good.
Michio Kaku	Parallel Worlds	Fascinating ideas on parallel universes, cosmology and string theory only slightly let down by oversimplification and mixed writing.
Nick Lane	Power, Sex, Suicide	It sounds like a political thriller, but it's a fascinating if fat exploration of the role of mitochondria, the invader power packs of complex life.
Andrew Meharg	Venomous Earth	Interesting exploration of arsenic's duel role as poison and medicine, fascinating on poisonous wallpaper
Arthur I. Miller	Empire of the Stars	The battle over the nature of white dwarf stars and the emergence of black holes in the life of Chandrasekhar, well told but long
Andrew Parker	Seven Deadly Colours	Superb description of nature's mechanisms for producing colour and colour's impact on the eye, a little let down by poor physics
Vivienne Parry	The Truth About Hormones	The truth about hormones, certainly, but sadly it's a pretty dull read
Dan Rockmore	Stalking the Riemann Hypothesis
Michael White	The Fruits of War	A huge sweep - effectively a brief history of all of technology, pointing out where its development was accelerated by war proves interesting but too much to cover

Our own longlist

The Aventis Prize longlist doesn't necessarily cover the best popular science books out in 2005 - take a look at our alternative list, which has several overlaps but also features some books that should have made it, but didn't (the judges seem to particularly have taken against books on apes, of which there were three great offerings last year!):

Robbins Burling	The Talking Ape	Fascinating exploration of the origins and nature of language. Approachable yet authoritative.
Deborah Cadbury	Space Race	Engaging and sometimes horrifying story of the origins and realities of the race to space and the moon from both sides of the iron curtain
John Emsley	Elements of Murder	A history of the use of several key elements from mercury to lead in poisonings - fascinating stories and surprisingly interesting
Peter Forbes	The Gecko's Foot	Wonderful examples of the potential for nature to inspire remarkable new technology, particularly at the nano level. Highly recommended
Jane Gregory	Fred Hoyle's Universe	A thorough and effective biography of the great astronomer Fred Hoyle - not perfect, but probably the best
Mike Hally	Electronic Brains	The early days of electronic computer are uncovered around the world - US, UK, Australia and USSR - in an engaging little book
Nick Lane	Power, Sex, Suicide	It sounds like a political thriller, but it's a fascinating if fat exploration of the role of mitochondria, the invader power packs of complex life.
Charles C. Mann	Ancient Americans [1491]	Superb revelation of the remarkable prehistoric cultures of the Americas - full of surprises and eminently readable
Robert Matthews	Q&A: Cosmic Conundrums and Everyday Mysteries of Science	Lots of fun and some significant surprises in this selection of answers to the scientific questions we'd all like to ask, but haven't
Wendy Moore	The Knife Man	Unexpectedly impressive life of John Hunter, surgeon, dissector and inspiration for Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Andrew Parker	Seven Deadly Colours	Superb description of nature's mechanisms for producing colour and colour's impact on the eye, a little let down by poor physics
George Pendle	Strange Angel	The totally bizarre and fascinating story of the life and horrible death of rocket science and occult enthusiast John Whiteside Parsons
Robert M. Sapolsky	MonkeyLuv	Elegant and witty articles on the nature/nurture debate, the interface between the human mind and body, and the interaction between society and human biology. Highly readable
Surendra Verma	The Little Book of Scientific Principles, Theories and Things	A delightful collection of 175 vignettes, illuminating scientific theories and the people who devised them. Highly recommended
Frans de Waal	Our Inner Ape	The affection the author feels for chimps and bonobos comes through strongly as he explores the behaviour of our closest relatives, and what it can tell us about ourselves

Chaired by journalist Nick Ross, the Aventis Prize panel consists of: Johnny Ball, broadcaster and author; Steve Jones, professor of genetics; Anjula Mutanda, consultant psychologist for Big Brother, and Fiammetta Rocco, literary editor at the Economist magazine.

Fiammetta Rocco, on announcing the longlist, said, "This year's submissions were of remarkably high quality, which made the job of picking out just a dozen books especially difficult. In fact, the longlist has 13 books because we didn't want to lose a single one.

"The diversity of subjects, the excellence of the writing, the singularity of individual voices; all of these contributed to remind us that writing, and reading, about scientific ideas can be a tremendously exciting experience."

Recent prize winners include Bill Bryson, Stephen Hawking and Philip Ball, whose book, Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another, scooped the 2005 award.

"This stuff is so accessible it is sometimes hard to put down, and the science is so absorbing and surprising it can make fiction seem dull. Science writing used to be full of impenetrable jargon, but these books are a joy," said Nick Ross.

To find out more about the Aventis Prizes see the official website.

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