The ΦΒΚ Book Awards are administered in the following three, non-fiction categories: The Christian Gauss Award: Celebrates outstanding books in the field of literary scholarship or criticism. The Phi Beta Kappa Award for Science: Recognizes superior books by scientists written to illuminate aspects of science for a broad readership. The Ralph Waldo Emerson Award: Honors scholarly studies that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity.
Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion By Michelle Dean, Grove Press
By Michelle Dean, Grove Press
Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry By Imani Perry, Beacon Press
By Imani Perry, Beacon Press
Paper Minds: Literature and the Ecology of Consciousness By Jonathan Kramnick (ΦΒΚ, Cornell University), The University of Chicago Press
By Jonathan Kramnick (ΦΒΚ, Cornell University), The University of Chicago Press
Facing the Abyss: American Literature and Culture in the 1940s By George Hutchinson, Columbia University Press
By George Hutchinson, Columbia University Press
Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot By Vera Tobin, Harvard University Press
By Vera Tobin, Harvard University Press
Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees By Thor Hanson, Basic Books
By Thor Hanson, Basic Books
Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth By Adam Frank, W. W. Norton and Company
By Adam Frank, W. W. Norton and Company
Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World By Marcia Bjornerud, Princeton University Press
By Marcia Bjornerud, Princeton University Press
Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures By Nick Pyenson, Viking Press
By Nick Pyenson, Viking Press
Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto By Alan Stern and David Grinspoon, Picador
By Alan Stern and David Grinspoon, Picador
The Known Citizen: A History of Privacy in Modern America By Sarah E. Igo, Harvard University Press
By Sarah E. Igo, Harvard University Press
The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War By Joanne Freeman (ΦΒΚ Pomona College), Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux
By Joanne Freeman (ΦΒΚ Pomona College), Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux
Action Versus Contemplation: Why an Ancient Debate Still Matters By Jennifer Summit (ΦΒΚ Vassar College) and Blake Vermeule, University of Chicago Press
By Jennifer Summit (ΦΒΚ Vassar College) and Blake Vermeule, University of Chicago Press
When Montezuma Met Cortes: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History By Matthew Restall, Ecco
By Matthew Restall, Ecco
The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind By Justin Driver, Knopf | Pantheon
By Justin Driver, Knopf | Pantheon
Featured Reviews
Action Versus Contemplation: Why an Ancient Debate Still Matters, Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto, and Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion are featured in the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Magazine The Key Reporter.
Please email Eva Caldera at ecaldera@pbk.org with any inquiries or call (202) 745-3244.