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Allen Lane has dominated the shortlist for this year’s £10,000 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, taking four of the six places.
Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein, a study of human memory, makes the list alongside The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene, which explores parallel universes, The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker, an analysis of the decline of violence in history, and The Viral Storm by Nathan Wolfe, an exploration of the virus.
Also shortlisted are The Information by James Gleick, published by Fourth Estate – a study of information and how it is used, transmitted and stored – and My Beautiful Genome by Lone Frank (Oneworld), a personal perspective on human genetics.
Chair of judges, Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, said: “This year’s shortlist is made up of fascinating, provocative books that really made us think about ourselves and the world around us - and parallel worlds.”
William Hill has already called on The Better Angels of Our Nature as the most likely winner, with odds of 2/1.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 26th November. The authors of each shortlisted book will receive £1,000.