The Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science, named for its first recipient, Lewis Thomas, is an annual literary prize awarded by The Rockefeller UniversityAbout the Lewis Thomas Prize to scientists or physicians deemed to have accomplished a significant literary achievement; it recognizes "scientists as poets." Originally called the Lewis Thomas Prize for the Scientist as Poet, the award was first given in 1993. Recipients' writings bridge the gap between the laboratory and the wider world, in the spirit of Lewis Thomas' collection of essays The Lives of a Cell.The Lives of a Cell / Goodreads
The prize-giving ceremony is usually in the form of a lecture; winners receive a medal, a citation, and a cash award.
Subsequent recipients of the prize, awarded first for the year 1993 to Thomas, have been:
François Jacob (for 1994)French Nobelist, Author, to Receive 1994 Lewis Thomas Prize from Rockefeller University Abraham Pais (for 1995)Rockefeller physicist and award-winning writer Abraham Pais to receive 1995 Lewis Thomas Prize Freeman Dyson (for 1996)Lewis Thomas Prize Honors Freeman Dyson Max Perutz (for 1997)Lewis Thomas Prize Honors Max Perutz Ernst Mayr (for 1998)Lewis Thomas Prize Honors Ernst Mayr Steven Weinberg (for 1999) E. O. Wilson (for 2000) Oliver Sacks (for 2001)Oliver Sacks, Awakenings Author, Receives Rockefeller University's Lewis Thomas Prize Jared Diamond (for 2002) Richard Fortey (for 2003) Jean-Pierre Changeux (for 2004)Renowned French neuroscientist Jean-Pierre Changeux receives Rockefeller University's science writing prize Thomas Eisner (for 2005)Thomas Eisner to receive 2005 Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science Richard Dawkins (for 2006)Richard Dawkins accepts 2006 Lewis Thomas Prize James D. Watson (for 2007) Robert Sapolsky (for 2008)Rockefeller University names Robert Sapolsky 2008 Lewis Thomas Prize winner Martin Rees (for 2009)Martin Rees is 2009 Lewis Thomas Prize winner Kay Redfield Jamison (2012)Lewis Thomas Prize to be awarded to Kay Redfield Jamison Frances Ashcroft (2013) Atul Gawande (2014)Surgeon and writer Atul Gawande awarded Lewis Thomas Prize Ian Stewart and Steven Strogatz (2015)Lewis Thomas Prize to honor mathematicians Steven Strogatz and Ian Stewart Sean B Carroll (2016)Lewis Thomas Prize to be awarded to Sean B. Carroll Sylvia Earle (2017)Oceanographer and explorer Sylvia Earle will receive the 2017 Lewis Thomas Prize Kip Thorne (2018)Astrophysicist Kip Thorne to receive Rockefeller's 2018 science writing prize Siddhartha Mukherjee (2019) Richard Prum (2021) Jennifer L. Eberhardt (2022) Suzanne Simard (2023) Carlo Rovelli (2024) Stanislas Dehaene (2025) Chris Impey (2026)
Videos of Lewis Thomas Prize lectures [2012-2022: https://www.rockefeller.edu/lewis-thomas-prize/recipients/].
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