Hawking’s Universe Tipped To Win Aventis Prizes

Stephen Hawking’s The Universe in a Nutshell, sequel to the best-selling A Brief History of Time is tipped to win the General Prize of the Aventis Prizes for Science Books 2002.

William Hill announced odds on the Prize – the scientific community’s answer to the Booker Prize – placing Professor Hawking’s book ahead of a strong list of contenders.

The shortlist was selected from 83 entries submitted this year for the General Prize. The odds on the six contenders for the £10,000 Prize are:

	THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL		Stephen Hawking		6/4
	THE MADNESS OF ADAM & EVE		David Horrobin		3/1
	AEONS		Martin Gorst		4/1
	THE SECRET LIFE OF DUST		Hannah Holmes		9/2
	A PRIMATE’S MEMOIR		Robert M. Sapolsky		5/1
	RIVALS		Michael White		5/1

The Prizes – comprising a General and a Junior Prize – are now in their 14th year, and aim to encourage the writing, publishing and reading of good and accessible popular science books. They are organised by Copus – The Science Communication Partnership, and sponsored by Aventis Pharma Ltd – a world leader in pharmaceuticals.

The judging panel for the General Prize is chaired by Dr Raj Persaud (Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer at the Maudsley Hospital); Clive Cookson (Science Editor, The Financial Times); The Rt Reverend Dr Peter Forster (Bishop of Chester); Dr Janna Levin (Author and Advanced Fellow in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University) and Dr Robin Lovell-Badge (Head of the Division of Developmental Genetics at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research). They will meet on June 25, 2002 to decide the winner.

The winners will be announced at a gala awards dinner for the Junior and General Prizes at the Science Museum, London on Tuesday, 25 June 2002. Each prize is worth £10,000 to the winning authors and £1,000 to each of the other shortlisted authors.