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The winner of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books is finally out. Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness won £10,000 award. There were six nominations for the prize. Each of the runner up received £1,000 at the Society’s headquarters. Professor Colin Pillinger who chaired the judging panel said that all the books were “excellent” and deciding the winner was “extremely difficult”. He said, “Daniel Gilbert’s voice provides a witty companion throughout this exploration of the science behind the pursuit of happiness. He uses cognitive science and psychology to provide intriguing insights into human nature, helping us to understand why we make the decisions we do.” Gilbert on receiving the prize said, “I’m absolutely delighted to receive this tremendous honour from the world’s oldest learned society. There are very few countries (including my own – the US) where a somewhat cheeky book about happiness could win a science prize – but the British invented intellectual humour and have always understood that enlightenment and entertainment are natural friends. So God bless the empire!” Source: BBC