14 Aug 1996, The Daily Telegraph

Reaping a harvest of young talent

Science Editor Roger Highfield announces the winners of the 1996 Young Science Writer Awards.

WHEN it comes to being humbled, there is nothing like judging the most prestigious science writing competition for young people, the results of which are here. An eminent panel gathered in Canary Wharf to sift the entries prompted by an appeal launched by the distinguished populariser of science and mathematics Prof John Barrow and backed by National Power and The Daily Telegraph, with the support of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Chairing a panel of the great and the good for the ninth year should have been easier than ever. But no sooner had I made my first nomination when developmental biologist Prof Lewis Wolpert muttered:

"I did not even rate her in my top 23." He greeted my second choice with: "Ooo, I loathed it," though I was comforted - albeit slightly - when my third nomination prompted Dr Peter Alberry, National Power's director of engineering, to reveal: "I have those three - in my top 11." And that sums up our difficulty.

The strength of the panel - its diversity - is a weakness when attempting to deploy the kind of intellectual rigour found in a doctoral viva to compare the merits of an epic on consciousness with another on, say, algae-driven power plants.

Discussion ranged widely, examining whether originality is - unfairly - stressed more than style, or an issue at the heart of journalism: should a reporter be blamed for accurately reporting lurid claims? The effort to sift the list of entries, shortlisted from a field of 400, saw the kind of bargaining a Brussels bureaucrat would relish. A great deal was at stake.

The best candidates in the 15-19 and 20-28 categories, as well as having their entries published and winning 500 pounds each, will visit America, expenses paid, to attend a conference in Seattle. With the two runners-up, they will also be guests at the British Association's annual meeting next month.

And 18 other runners-up each receive 100 pounds, certificates of merit and subscriptions to the leading science magazine and journal, 'New Scientist' and 'Nature'.