The Singer Prize

	Néstor Herran, who attended the 2005 Annual Conference in Leeds, with his commendation certificate

The Singer Prize, of up to £300, is awarded by the BSHS every two years to the writer of an unpublished essay, based on original research into any aspect of the history of science, technology or medicine. The Prize is intended for younger scholars or recent entrants into the profession. The Prize may be awarded to the writer of one outstanding essay, or may be awarded to two or more entrants. The Prize will usually be presented at the BSHS annual conference and the Society will contribute towards the winner's travel expenses for attending the meeting. Publication in the British Journal for the History of Science will be at the discretion of the Editor. Essays on offer or in press are not be eligible.

Candidates must be registered for a postgraduate degree or have been awarded such in the two years prior to the closing date. Entry is not limited to British nationals.

Essays must not exceed 8,000 words (including footnotes following the style guidelines in the British Journal for the History of Science), must be fully documented, typewritten with double-line spacing, and submitted in English. Use of published and unpublished primary material is strongly encouraged, and full and correct use of scholarly apparatus (eg footnotes) is expected.

Entries (3 copies, stating the number of words) should be sent to arrive not later than 15 December 2008. Essays must not bear any reference to the author, either by name or department; candidates should send a covering letter with documentation of their status and details of any publications. Do not send essays as email attachments.

Entries should be sent to:

Ms Lucy Tetlow, BSHS Executive Secretary, PO Box 3401, Norwich, NR7 7JF.
Enquiries only by email to: secretary@bshs.org.uk

• 2006: In the absence of a clearly outstanding essay, the Singer Prize was not awarded in this year. Please note that the decision not to award the Prize rests entirely with the judges, and is final.
• 2004: Claire Brock (now at the University of Leicester) for her essay "The Public Worth of Mary Somerville." Special Commendations were awarded to Néstor Herran (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), for "Spreading Nucleonics: the Isotope School at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, 1951-1967" and Prakash Kumar (Yale University) for "Improving Indigo: the Dynamics of Science at the Colonial and Imperial Laboratories, 1898-1913."
• 2002: Simone Turchetti, University of Manchester, 'Atomic secrets and government lies: nuclear science, politics and security in the Pontecorvo case'.  Special commendations: Christopher Chilvers, University of Oxford, 'The dilemmas of seditious men: the Crowther-Hessen correspondence in the 1930s'; Rebekah Higgitt, Imperial College London, '"Newton dispossede!": the British response to the Pascal forgeries of 1867'
• 2000: James Sumner, University of Leeds, 'John Richardson, saccharometry and the pounds-per-barrel extract: the construction of a quantity'
• 1998: Gregory Radick, University of Cambridge, 'Morgan's Canon, Garner’s Phonograph, and the Evolutionary Origins of Language and Reason'
• 1996: Frances Dawbarn, University of Lancaster, 'Patronage and Power: the College of Physicians and the Jacobean court'
• 1994: Joint Award.  David Wright, 'John Fryer and the Shanghai Polytechnic: making space for science in nineteenth-century China'; Paul Lucier, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 'Court and Controversy: patenting science in the nineteenth century'
• 1992: Jon Agar, University of Kent at Canterbury, 'Making a Meal of a Big Dish: the construction of the Jodrell Bank Mark 1 radio telescope as a stable edifice, 1946-57'
• 1990: Joint Award.  Jon Topham, University of Cambridge, 'Science and Popular Education in the 1830s: the role of the Bridgewater Treatises'; Mark Harrison, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London, 'Tropical Medicine in Nineteenth-Century India'
• 1988: Joint Award.  Graeme Gooday, University of Kent; Michael Ben-Chaim, University of Cambridge
• 1986: First Prize: Michael Shortland; Second Prize Andrew Warwick; Commendation: Steve Sturdy
• 1984: No Award
• 1982: Joint Award.  Simon Schaffer; Mari Williams
• 1980: M Ridley