La Sociedad Real premia libro sobre la felicidad

La Sociedad Real es la más antigua asociación científica del mundo. Isaac Newton fue uno de sus miembros por ejemplo. Un gran libro sobre la historia de la Sociedad Real es El Colegio Invisible de Robert Lomas (Grijalbo, México 2003). Y cada año la sociedad elige al libro científico del año, y este año ganó Stumbling on Happiness de Daniel Gilbert. El premio es de 10 mil libras. Copio de la BBC News:


BBC NEWS
May 15, 2007

HAPPINESS WINS SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE

A scientific exploration of the various ways people attempt to make themselves happy has won the annual Royal Society Prize for Science Books.

Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness had been tipped as the favourite to win the prestigious £10,000 award.

It beat five other titles including Henry Nicholl's Lonesome George, an account of the last known individual of a subspecies of Galapagos tortoise.

Each runner up received £1,000 at a ceremony at the Society's headquarters.

Professor Colin Pillinger, from the Open University in Milton Keynes, chaired the judging panel. He said that all of the books had been "excellent" and deciding on first prize had been "extremely difficult".

Discussing the winner 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." ...