Professor Cordelia Fine wins prestigious Royal Society prize
University of Melbourne Professor Cordelia Fine has won the prestigious 30th anniversary Royal Society Insight Investment Science Books Prize for her book Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of our Gendered Minds.
The award is described as the ‘Booker Prize of science writing’ and judges praised Testosterone Rex for its “eye-opening, forensic look at gender stereotypes and its urgent call for change”.
University of Melbourne Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Jim McCluskey congratulated Professor Fine on what he described as a wonderful achievement.
“This prize is an outstanding recognition of Cordelia’s ability to communicate science literature and debunk common gender myths in a way that is informative, engaging and compassionate,” Professor McCluskey said.
“We’re enormously proud.”
Head of School and Professor of History at the University of Melbourne School of Historical and Philosophical Studies (SHAPS) Trevor Burnard echoed the Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s praise.
“SHAPS is very proud of Cordelia, Professor in History and Philosophy of Science, and what she has done to advance the public understanding of the science of sexual differences. This is a great achievement,” Professor Burnard said.
Professor Fine said she was “deeply honoured to have been awarded the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize".
Testosterone Rex, brings together evolutionary science, psychology, neuroscience and social history to move beyond old ‘nature versus nurture’ debates, and disprove the myth that testosterone, or the lack of it, shapes men and women into virtually separate species.
It is Professor Fine’s third book, following the critically acclaimed Delusions of Gender and A Mind of Its Own.
Chosen from a shortlist of six, Professor Fine was awarded a cheque for £25 000 at the ceremony in London on Tuesday, 19 September.
Read more about Professor Cordelia Fine and Testosterone Rex on Pursuit.