- Simon Singh
Simon Lehna Singh, MBE (born
1964 ) is an Indian-Britishauthor of Punjabi background, who has specialised in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner. He is the youngest of three brothers, his eldest brother beingTom Singh , the founder of the UK New Look chain of stores.His written works include "Fermat's Last Theorem" (in the
United States titled "Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem"), "The Code Book " (aboutcryptography and its history) and "Big Bang" (about theBig Bang theory and the origins of the universe).He has also produced documentaries and works for television to accompany his books, is a trustee of "
NESTA ", the "National Museum of Science and Industry " and co-founded the "Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme ".He is currently being sued for
libel by theBritish Chiropractic Association .Biography
Singh's parents emigrated from the Punjab in
India to Britain in1950 . He grew up inWellington, Somerset , attending Wellington School, and then went on toImperial College London , where he studiedPhysics , before completing a PhD degree in particle physics atEmmanuel College , Cambridge University and atCERN , Geneva. In 1990 he joined the BBC's Science and Features Department, where he was a producer and director working on programmes such as "Tomorrow's World " and "Horizon".In
1996 , he directedFermat's Last Theorem , a BAFTA award-winning documentary about the world's most notorious mathematical problem. The film was memorable for its opening shot of a middle-aged mathematician,Andrew Wiles bursting into tears as he recalled the moment when he thought he had resolved the problem after several years working in secret, released his proof to the world, then found that it still had a hole in it. The documentary was also aired in America as part of the NOVA series. "The Proof", as it was re-titled, was nominated for anEmmy Award .The story of this notorious mathematical problem was also the subject of Singh's first book, "
Fermat's last theorem ". This was the first book about mathematics to become a No 1 bestseller in the UK. In1997 , he began working on his second book, "The Code Book", a history ofcodes andcodebreaking . As well as explaining the science of codes and describing the impact ofcryptography onhistory , the book also contends thatcryptography is more important today than ever before. "The Code Book" has resulted in a return to television for him. He presented "The Science of Secrecy", a five part series for Channel 4. The stories in the series range from thecipher that sealed the fate ofMary Queen of Scots to the codedZimmermann Telegram that changed the course of the First World War. Other programmes discuss how two great 19th century geniuses raced to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs and how modern encryption can guarantee privacy on theInternet . In October 2004, Singh published a book entitled "Big Bang", which tells the history of the universe. It is told in his trademark style, by following the remarkable stories of the people who put the pieces together.In 2003, Singh was made a Member of the
Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Science, Technology and Engineering in Education and Science Communication. In the same year he was made "Doctor of Letters (honoris causa)" byLoughborough University , and in2005 was given an honorary degree in Mathematics bySouthampton University .Currently, he is involved more in
television andradio programmes, including "A Further Five Numbers" (BBC Radio 4, 2005).He made headlines in
2005 , when he criticised theKatie Melua song "Nine Million Bicycles " for inaccurate lyrics referring to the size of theobservable universe , and proposed a correction. [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/comment/story/0,9828,1581826,00.html Simon Singh: Katie Melua's bad science | comment | EducationGuardian.co.uk ] ]BBC Radio 4 's "Today" programme brought Melua and Singh together in a radio studio where Melua recorded a tongue-in-cheek accurate version of the song that had been written by Singh. [cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/listenagain_20051015.shtml |title= Listen Again |publisher= BBC Radio 4 |work= Today Programme |date= 2005-10-15 |accessdate= 2008-05-18] . Unfortunately, Singh's correction is not accurate. Singh proposed a distance of 13.7 billionlight-year s to the edge of the observable universe instead of 12 billion light-years that appears in the original version of the song. Actually, the distance to the "edge" of the observable universe is much larger (about 46 billion light years) because of the fast expansion of the universe.In 2006 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Design degree by the
University of the West of England "in recognition of Simon Singh’s outstanding contribution to the public understanding of science, in particular in the promotion of science, engineering and mathematics in schools and in the building of links between universities and schools" [ [http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers/news/154 UWE awards honorary degree to Dr Simon Singh MBE - Career Development - jobs.ac.uk ] ] . This was followed up by his receipt of the Kelvin Medal from theInstitute of Physics in 2008, for his achievements in promoting Physics to the general public. In July 2008, he was also awarded a "Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)" byRoyal Holloway ,University of London .Chiropractic lawsuit
Singh is being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association over his claims in an article in the "
The Guardian ". [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/19/health Beware the spinal trap] - "Guardian ", 19 April 2008. The article has been temporarily removed because of a complaint by the BCA.] [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_singh/] ] "The article was about his recently published book "Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine On Trial", in which he made various claims about the usefulness ofchiropractic "for such problems as ear infections and infant colic":: "You might think that modern chiropractors restrict themselves to treating back problems, but in fact they still possess some quite wacky ideas. The fundamentalists argue that they can cure anything. And even the more moderate chiropractors have ideas above their station. The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can help treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though there is not a jot of evidence. This organisation is the respectable face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments."
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