‘A City on Mars’ wins 2024 Trivedi Science Book Prize

In the UK, A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? (Kelly & Zach Weinersmith, Particular Books) has won the 2024 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, worth £25,000 (A$49,037), reports the Bookseller.

Chosen as the winner from a shortlist of six, A City on Mars ‘covers questions as broad as: What do we know and not know about human physiology and reproduction in space? How well might our mental health hold up? Are the Moon, a space station or an asteroid good alternatives to a Mars settlement? And finally, what, if anything, is there regarding international law on space settlement, and how much wiggle room is there?’ said chair of judges John Hutchinson.

‘The Weinersmiths manage to answer these questions and point ways forward for overcoming the hurdles involved in finding some way to settle space, someday,’ said Hutchinson. ‘They walk a tightrope of maintaining not only scientific rigour and fairness, but also a lot of humour, leveraged by amusing and informative sketches. We finish the book understanding that, while humanity having a city on Mars might yet be centuries away, many good reasons remain to pursue the lofty goal of settling space. Many of those reasons begin with doing more science and developing more technology here on Earth—and in the meantime, trying our best to preserve our precious planet.’

Hutchinson was joined on the 2024 judging panel by author Eleanor Catton; New Scientist comment and culture editor Alison Flood; teacher, broadcaster and writer Bobby Seagull; and Imperial College London lecturer Jess Wade.

The winner of the 2023 prize was Ed Yong for An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us (Vintage).

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