Simon Lehna Singh, (born 19 September 1964) is a British
popular science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
author, theoretical and particle physicist. His written works include ''
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than 2. The cases and have been k ...
'' (in the United States titled ''Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem''),
''
The Code Book
''The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography'' is a book by Simon Singh, published in 1999 by Fourth Estate and Doubleday.
''The Code Book'' describes some illustrative highlights in the history of cryptog ...
''
(about
cryptography
Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
and
its history), ''
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...
''
(about the
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...
theory and the origins of the universe), ''
Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial''
(about complementary and alternative medicine, co-written by
Edzard Ernst
Edzard Ernst (born 30 January 1948) is a retired British-German academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine. He was Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, alleged ...
) and ''
The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets'' (about mathematical ideas and theorems hidden in episodes of ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' and ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
''). In 2012 Singh founded the
Good Thinking Society
The Good Thinking Society is a nonprofit organisation promoting scientific scepticism established by Simon Singh in September 2012.
Activities
The society aims to raise awareness of and fund sceptical projects.
During the 2014 World Homeopathy ...
, through which he created the website "Parallel" to help students learn mathematics.
Singh has also produced documentaries and works for television to accompany his books, is a trustee of the
National Museum of Science and Industry
The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums:
* The Science Museum, London, Science Museum in South Kensington, London
* The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
* The National Railway Museum in York
* The Locomotion Mu ...
, a patron of
Humanists UK, founder of the
Good Thinking Society
The Good Thinking Society is a nonprofit organisation promoting scientific scepticism established by Simon Singh in September 2012.
Activities
The society aims to raise awareness of and fund sceptical projects.
During the 2014 World Homeopathy ...
, and co-founder of the
Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme The Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme (UAS) is a program in the United Kingdom devised to encourage students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs to enter teaching by awarding them with degree course credits.
...
.
Early life and education
Singh was born in a Sikh family to parents who emigrated from
Punjab, India
Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...
to Britain in 1950. He is the youngest of three brothers, his eldest brother being
Tom Singh
Tom Singh (born August 1949) is the founder of the New Look, a chain of high street fashion stores in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Singh was born into a Punjabi Sikh family, who emigrated from the Punjab to England in the late 1940s when he ...
, the founder of the UK
New Look chain of stores. Singh grew up in
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington is a market town in rural Somerset, a county in the west of England, situated south west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the tow ...
, attending
Wellington School, and went on to
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
, where he studied
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
. He was active in the student union, becoming President of the
Royal College of Science
The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...
Union. Later he completed a
PhD in
particle physics
Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...
at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
as a postgraduate student of
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
while working at
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
, Geneva.
Career
In 1983, he was part of the
UA2 experiment
The Underground Area 2 (UA2) experiment was a high-energy physics experiment at the Proton-Antiproton Collider (SpS) — a modification of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) — at CERN. The experiment ran from 1981 until 1990, and its main object ...
in
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
.
In 1987, Singh taught science at
The Doon School
The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...
, an independent all-boys' boarding school in India. In 1990 Singh returned to England and joined the BBC's Science and Features Department, where he was a producer and director working on programmes such as ''
Tomorrow's World
''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
'' and ''
Horizon
The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
''. Singh was introduced to
Richard Wiseman
Richard J. Wiseman (born 17 September 1966) is a Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. He has written several psychology books. He has given keynote addresses to The Royal ...
through their collaboration on ''
Tomorrow's World
''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
''. At Wiseman's suggestion, Singh directed a segment about politicians lying in different mediums, and getting the public's opinion on whether the person was lying or not.
After attending some of Wiseman's lectures, Singh came up with the idea to create a show together, and ''Theatre of Science'' was born. It was a way to deliver science to normal people in an entertaining manner. Richard Wiseman has influenced Singh in such a way that Singh states:
Singh directed his
BAFTA award-winning documentary about the world's most notorious mathematical problem entitled ''Fermat's Last Theorem'' in 1996. The film was memorable for its opening shot of a middle-aged mathematician,
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles (born 11 April 1953) is an English mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, specializing in number theory. He is best known for proving Fermat's Last Theorem, for which he was awar ...
, holding back tears as he recalled the moment when he finally realised how to resolve the fundamental error in his proof of
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than 2. The cases and have been k ...
. The documentary was originally transmitted in January 1996 as an edition of the BBC ''Horizon'' series. It was also aired in America as part of the
NOVA series. ''The Proof'', as it was re-titled, was nominated for an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
.
The story of this celebrated mathematical problem was also the subject of Singh's first book, ''
Fermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than 2. The cases and have been k ...
''. In 1997, he began working on his second book, ''The Code Book'', a history of
codes
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
and
codebreaking
Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...
. As well as explaining the science of codes and describing the impact of
cryptography
Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
on history, the book also contends that cryptography 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 the
cipher
In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...
that sealed the fate of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
, to the coded
Zimmermann Telegram that changed the course of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Other programmes discuss how two great 19th-century geniuses raced to decipher
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...
and how modern encryption can guarantee privacy on the Internet.
On his activities as author he said in an interview to
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
:
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.
He made headlines in 2005 when he criticised the
Katie Melua
Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian and British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of comp ...
song "
Nine Million Bicycles
"Nine Million Bicycles" is a song written and produced by Mike Batt for the singer Katie Melua's second album, '' Piece by Piece''. It was released as the album's first single in September 2005 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, bec ...
" for inaccurate lyrics referring to the size of the
observable universe
The observable universe is a ball-shaped region of the universe comprising all matter that can be observed from Earth or its space-based telescopes and exploratory probes at the present time, because the electromagnetic radiation from these obj ...
. Singh proposed corrected lyrics, though he used the value of 13.7 billion light years; accounting for expansion of the universe, the
comoving distance
In standard cosmology, comoving distance and proper distance are two closely related distance measures used by cosmologists to define distances between objects. ''Proper distance'' roughly corresponds to where a distant object would be at a spec ...
to the edge of the observable universe is 46.5 billion light years.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's ''Today'' programme brought Melua and Singh together in a radio studio where Melua recorded a tongue-in-cheek version of the song that had been written by Singh.
Singh was part of an investigation about
homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
in 2006. This investigation was made by the organization
Sense About Science.
[
In the investigation, a student asked ten homeopaths for an alternative to her preventive malaria medication. All ten homeopaths recommended homeopathy as a substitute.]
This investigation was reported by the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
Singh has been involved in television and radio programmes, including ''Five Numbers'' (BBC Radio 4, 11 March 2002 to 20 September 2005).
In 2003 Singh was awarded an honorary degree of ''Doctor of Letters (honoris causa)'' by
"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". This was followed up by his receipt of the
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'') by
.
In July 2011, he was awarded another degree of Doctor of Science (''Honoris Causa'') by the
for services to Science. In June 2012, Singh was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science (''honoris causa'') for his contribution to science communication, education and academic freedom by
.
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 2010 he became the inaugural recipient of the
.
.