Icon News & Events
Why God’s Philosophers did not deserve to be shortlisted for the Royal Society prize
Posted on 2010/10/28 in General, tagged as
Just so we can’t be accused of only mentioning favourable coverage of our books on this site, here’s a length piece on the New Humanist website by Charles Freeman arguing that James Hannam’s God’s Philosophers doesn’t deserve all of it’s accolades and that it presents a distorted, Catholic-biased account of the early development of science. It’s already causing a stir on the comments page on that site so if you’ve read the book, please get involv… Read more »
Read Jilted Generation for FREE on your phone!
Posted on 2010/10/27 in General, tagged as
Starting today, Ed Howker, Shiv Malik and Icon Books are giving away the entire text of Jilted Generation as a free mobile-phone ebook. To get your copy, simply text JILTED to 60300 and follow the instructions. The book is a passionate but carefully argued critique of what’s gone wrong for Britain’s younger people. As Ed and Shiv say: ‘The whole point of writing this book was to change things. We want as many people – young people especially – … Read more »
Introducing’s thought for the day widget
Posted on 2010/10/25 in General, tagged as
Often find yourself in need of a nugget of intellectual wisdom but are struggling to know where to look? Our Introducing series offers the answer with our handy Thought for the Day widget – see below and click on Get This Widget to grab the embed code and put it on your website, Google homepage etc. Books on Chaos, Ethics, Freud, Jung, Islam & more.. + Get This Widget
Royal Society Prize – the result
Posted on 2010/10/22 in General, tagged as
Congratulations to Nick Lane his publisher Profile Books for the victory of Life Ascending at the Royal Society Prize for Science Books 2010 last night. Here’s the Royal Society press release. Of course, that meant that Icon’s contender, God’s Philosophers, didn’t win this time round. But you can still buy it here!
Run the London Marathon between 2001-2010? If so you’re in Aubrey’s.
Posted on 2010/10/22 in General, tagged as
Icon’s sister company Aubrey Books has just published The Official Register of London Marathon Runners 2001-2010. Anyone who ran the Marathon between those dates has their name, and their finishing time, is his beautiful produced book. It’s available now, exclusively from the Aubrey’s website, for £30 – 50% off the RRP – click here to read more and order yours. It’s the perfect souvenir if you ran the race yourself or the perfect gift for someone… Read more »
‘Although we have the strong sense that our perception of others is objective, it’s very difficult not to perceive others through the ‘lens of gender’.’
Posted on 2010/10/21 in General, tagged as
Cordelia Fine, author of Delusions of Gender, quoted as part of an article today in the Independent on how girls and boys grow up so conscious of their gender. Read the full piece here.
Royal Society Prize for Science Books – live webcast tonight!
Posted on 2010/10/21 in General, tagged as
It’s the 2010 Royal Society Prize for Science Books ceremony tonight, and the announcement itself as well as the Q&A session with the shortlisted authors will be webcast by the Royal Society on their website here from about 6.30pm. If you can’t be at the event itself in London – which is free to all comers – do tune in – and keep your fingers crossed for God’s Philosophers!
Doesn’t the Trades Descriptions Act cover book titles? How can Love, Sex, Death & Words be justified for a volume of literary dates, all based on the solitary act of an author sitting down quietly with a quill, pencil, typewriter or keyboard? In fact, not only the fourth noun but also the first three are mots justes for the entrancing events detailed here.’
Posted on 2010/10/20 in General, tagged as
Jonathan Sale is beguiled by John Sutherland and Stephen Fender’s new book, according to his review today in the Independent.
‘A fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of science and if this were a history book prize then this would be a likely winner.’
Posted on 2010/10/20 in General, tagged as
The Independent weighs in now with it’s assessment of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books shortlist, and reports that the award itself is under threat. The quote is above is their verdict on God’s Philosophers. Read more here and read here the view from www.popularscience.co.uk editor Brian Clegg.
‘This period has been poorly documented, and I think this makes Hannam’s account all the more extraordinary. It is engaging, informative and I heartily recommend it.’
Posted on 2010/10/19 in General, tagged as
In advance of the annoucement of the 2010 Royal Society Prize for Science Books on Thursday, various commentators have been having their say on the contending books. The quote above is from The Great Beyond, a blog from Nature magazine, on James Hannam’s God’s Philosophers, published by Icon and the favourite to win, according to William Hill. ‘Aquinas was made a saint, but others were punished by the church. One heretical thinker, Amaury of Ben… Read more »
