Past Recipients of the Neville Prize in Bibliography or Biography

Michael D. Gordin, 2007
A Well-Ordered Thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the Shadow of the Periodic Table (2004)

Gordin draws a portrait of Mendeleev in three dimensions, detailing his complex relationship with the Russian Empire, his successes and humiliations, and the ideals that shaped his work in politics, culture, and science. Gordin's background in the history of modern physical sciences, the history of imperial Russia, and the intersection of the two areas uniquely prepared him to take on this story.

An associate professor of history in the Department of History of Science at Princeton University, Gordin earned an A.B. and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has published articles on a variety of topics, such as the introduction of science into Russia in the early 18th century, the history of biological warfare in the late Soviet period, the relations between Russian literature and science, and a series of studies on the life and chemistry of Mendeleev, formulator of the periodic system of chemical elements. He is also the author of Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War, a history of the atomic bombings of Japan, and a coeditor of the four-volume Science and Society: The History of Modern Physical Sciences in the Twentieth Century.

Robert E. Schofield, 2006
The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Works from 1773 to 1804 (2004)

The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Works from 1773 to 1804 is the second volume of Robert E. Schofield's definitive biography of one of chemistry's greatest practitioners.

Schofield, professor of history emeritus at Iowa State University, is uniquely qualified to bring to life the monumental figure of Joseph Priestley. Born in Nebraska and raised in Colorado, he earned an A.B. in physics from Princeton University, an M.S. in physics from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in history of science from Harvard University. Schofield has taught at the University of Kansas in Lawrence; Case Institute of Technology, later Case Western Reserve University; and Iowa State University. He became professor emeritus in 1993. He is the editor of A Scientific Autobiography of Joseph Priestley (1773–1804) and the author or editor of numerous other books, including The Lunar Society of Birmingham. His masterworks, The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Works from 1733 to 1773 and The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Works from 1773 to 1804, are a culmination of thirty years' work, research, and study.