STEP - Science and Technology in the European Periphery

The London School of Economics and Political Science announces that this year's Lakatos
Award, of £10,000 for an outstanding contribution

to the philosophy of science, goes to: Peter Godfrey-Smith (Harvard University), for his
book Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection

(Oxford University Press, 2009). He will visit LSE to receive the Award and give the
Award Public Lecture during summer term, 2011.

The book develops a new analysis and extension of Darwin's idea of natural selection -
one that draws on new developments in philosophy of

science, biology and other fields. The central concept involved is that of a "Darwinian
population," a collection of things with the capacity to undergo change by natural
selection. From this starting point, new analyses of the role of genes in evolution, the
application of Darwinian ideas to cultural change, and "evolutionary transitions" that produce
complex organisms and societies are developed.

The Lakatos Award is given for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science,
widely interpreted, in the form of a book

published in English during the previous five years. It was made possible by a generous
endowment from the Latsis Foundation. The

Award is in memory of the former LSE professor, Imre Lakatos, and is administered by an
international Management Committee organised from

the LSE. The Committee, chaired by John Worrall, decides the outcome of the Award
competition on the advice of an international,

independent and anonymous panel of Selectors.

Nominations can now be made for the 2011 Lakatos Award, and must be received by Friday
22nd April 2011. The 2011 Award will be for a book

published in English with an imprint from 2006-2011 inclusive. A book may, with the
permission of the author, be nominated by any person of

recognised standing within the profession. For further details of the nomination
procedure or more information on the Lakatos Award 2011,

contact the Administrator, Susanne Burri on + 44 (0) 78 389 48225, or email
S.Burri@lse.ac.uk.