BSHS Reveals the winner of the BSHS Hughes Prize for 2021
The 2021 Hughes Prize for an accessible book in the history of science is awarded to Jaipreet Virdi for the book Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History.
The Jury of the BSHS Hughes Prize said: “Jaipreet Virdi’s marvellous book Hearing Happiness won over the judges by its unique mixture of personal insight and perceptive historical analysis of a fascinating and understudied topic – the development of technology to cure deafness in the USA and the UK. Virdi – a deaf person, in the words of her book jacket – writes powerfully and clearly for the general public about the complex issues around deafness and the technologies that have been developed in response to it. This book can be an inspiration to young historians, who may realise that they, too, have a unique insight into a particular aspect of science or medicine.”
Professor Charlotte Sleigh, President of the BSHS added “Jaipreet Virdi humanises science by blending memoir and history in her hugely readable account of deafness. In describing the many curious and strange attempts to ‘cure’ deafness, she calls us to question the role of science in policing what is ‘normal’ about our bodies, identities and society.”
The previous winner of the BSHS Hughes Prize, James Delbourgo, was recognised for the book Collecting the World: Hans Sloane and the Origins of the British Museum.
