The Voyage of Thought wins Pickstone Prize

The 2018 British Society for the History of Science John Pickstone Prize has been awarded to Michael Wintroub for his book, The Voyage of Thought: Navigating Knowledge across the Sixteenth-Century World.

The BSHS John Pickstone Prize is awarded every two years to the best scholarly book in the history of science that should mark an advance in the understanding and interpretation of the scientific past.

“Extraordinary,” editor of the British Journal for the History of Science and judge Charlotte Sleigh said in her citation. “This book changed my perspective on the history of science, pushing it far further back in chronological terms and wider in terms of possible sources than it had ever gone before.”

As part of the award, Wintroub will be asked to give a presentation, sponsored by the BSHS, on the subject of his book.

Rohan Deb Roy, author of Malarial Subjects: Empire, Medicine and Nonhumans in British India, 1820-1909 was also named a runner-up for the prize this year.

“Great depth and also breadth within the area of imperial medicine…Superb archival research combined with acute theoretical analyses,” Vice President of the BSHS and judge Patricia Fara said.

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