COSMOS BOOK PRIZE RETURNS
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COSMOS BOOK PRIZE 2025
On October 17, we presented the Cosmos Book Prize for the fourth time to the best popular science book of the year. During this festive evening at the Parnassos Cultural Centre in Utrecht, Dorine Schenk's De klopjacht op donkere materie won the student prize, and Zoë Schlanger received the jury prize for her book Lichteters.
Images: Bob Bronshoff
NOMINATED BOOKS 2025
 Mathematics in comics! This book explains difficult things like derivatives and integrals, but with pictures, humor and without boring formulas. Educational and funny - ideal if you want to understand more about how arithmetic really works. |  Christiaan Huygens was already thinking about aliens in the 17th century. Daphne Stam shows what he thought back then, and what we now really know about extraterrestrial life. Super interesting if you ever look up and wonder: are we alone? |  A thrilling scientific detective story: does dark matter really exist, or are we chasing something that may not be there at all? Dorine Schenk unravels the mystery of the biggest question mark in the universe. |
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 Bright minds, smart software and a good dose of humor. In this book, Lieven Scheire guides you through the fascinating world of artificial intelligence: what it is, where it comes from, and how it is already rewriting our future. |  Plants do more than grow: they communicate, adapt and make smart choices. In Light Eaters you will discover what we can learn from plants – and why they may be smarter than you think. |
PROFESSIONAL JURY
Senja Barthel
Senja is a university lecturer in mathematics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She investigates how shapes influence the properties of materials.
Manus Visser
Manus is a theoretical physicist and studies the thermodynamic properties of black holes and gravity.
Felienne Hermans
Felienne is a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and researches how we can make digital technology understandable and accessible to everyone.
Stefan Vandoren
Stefan is a theoretical physicist and focuses on black holes and string theory.
STUDENT JURY
This year you can also participate in the student jury of the Cosmos Book Prize! The jury consists of fifty students from the Netherlands (HAVO, VWO, MBO3, MBO4) between the ages of 15-18. Together we read the nominated books, share our opinions and ultimately choose a winner.
The applications for the student jury will open soon.
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BACKGROUND
The Cosmos Book Prize originated from the idea of scientist Gianfranco Bertone and is awarded to the best popular science book in the field of physics, mathematics, biology or astronomy of the year. Both a professional jury and a jury of scholars will indicate their preference. The winner(s) will take home a beautiful award, as well as a cash prize of 1500 euros each.
The ceremony now takes place in Italy, the Netherlands and France. The initiative is endorsed by the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development of UNESCO.
The Cosmos Book Prize is organized by:
Jan Pieter van der Schaar Maureen Voestermans Collin Klümann Sophie Schot
Jim Jansen Eline Kraaijenvanger Alex Sieval
PREVIOUS EDITIONS
2024
Photos: Bob Bronshoff
2023
Video: Charlotte Dijkgraaf
Photos: Bob Bronshoff
2022
Video: Robin de Ridder