Michael Edward Brooks (born 7 May 1970) is an English
science writer
Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public.
Origins
Modern science journalism dates back to '' Digdarshan'' (means showing the d ...
, noted for explaining complex scientific research and findings to the general population.
Career
Brooks holds a
PhD in Quantum Physics from the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
.
He was previously an editor for ''
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...
'' magazine, and currently works as a consultant for that magazine. His writing has appeared in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', ''
The Times Higher Education Supplement
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'', and ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
''.
His first novel, ''Entanglement'', was published in 2007. His first non-fiction book, an exploration of scientific anomalies entitled ''
13 Things That Don't Make Sense'', was published in 2009. The book expands an article that Brooks wrote for ''New Scientist''.
Brooks' next book, ''The Big Questions: Physics'', was released in February 2010. It contains twenty 3,000-word essays addressing the most fundamental and frequently asked questions about science.
Brooks appeared as a regular guest on
George Lamb's
BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
show. His slot on the show, entitled ''Weird Science,'' features weird and wonderful stories from the world of science.
Brooks currently co-presents the podcast Science(ish) with UK presenter
Rick Edwards
Richard Philip "Rick" Edwards (born 20 May 1979) is an English television presenter, journalist, and author. Edwards presented T4 for four years, and has also presented ''Tool Academy'', '' Freshly Squeezed'', ''E4 Music'', and much of Channe ...
which explores the science behind the movies.
Science Party
The Science Party is a UK political party that was launched on 20 April 2010 by Brooks and
Sumit Paul-Choudhury Stackable Unified Module Interconnect Technology (SUMIT) is a connector between expansion buses independent of motherboard form factor. Boards featuring SUMIT connectors are usually used in "stacks" where one board sits on top of another.
It was pub ...
, an editor of ''
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...
''.
A key goal in the Science Party manifesto is ensuring "that science, mathematics and engineering have sufficient funding, skills and political priority".
The Science Party challenged MP
David Tredinnick in his constituency of
Bosworth in the
East Midlands, in the
2010 general election on a pro-scientific manifesto. Tredinnick is a supporter of
alternative medicine and critical of science.
It was revealed in the 2009
United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expenses claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the previous year ...
that Tredinnick claimed £700 in his MP expenses for
astrology software
Astrology software is a type of computer programs designed to calculate horoscopes. Many of them also assemble interpretive text into narrative reports.
History
Astro Computing Services (ACS) in San Diego, founded by Neil Michelsen in 1973, publ ...
and training, which he repaid following media publicity. Tredinnick also led 70 MPs in a motion to ignore a House of Commons
Science and Technology Select Committee
The Science and Technology Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The original Science and Technology Committee was abolished upon the creation of the Innovation, Universities, Sci ...
report recommending the
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
to cease funding
homeopathic
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 dise ...
treatments.
In criticising Tredinnick, Brooks also points to the
cash-for-questions affair
The "cash-for-questions affair" was a political scandal of the 1990s in the United Kingdom.
It began in October 1994 when ''The Guardian'' newspaper alleged that London's most successful parliamentary lobbyist, Ian Greer of Ian Greer Associates ...
, where Tredinnick accepted a £1,000 payment from an under cover reporter for what was described as a consultancy service but which essentially involved raising a question before parliament, an act that has been described as accepting a bribe for interference in parliamentary proceedings. This scandal led to Tredinnick and one other MP being suspended from Parliament. Brooks also criticises Tredinnick for his MP's expense claim of £125 for attending a course on "intimate relationships".
Tredinnick defended his views on using
astrology for medicine by saying "Systems of healthcare in India and China have linked medicine and astronomy for centuries. Are we really just dismissing their views?".
Brooks describes Tredinnick as "a champion of
pseudo-science
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...
and a hindrance to rational governance".
Brooks received 197 votes in the election, 0.4% of the votes cast.
UK election: The Science Party's democracy experiment
Sumit Paul-Choudhury, The S Word blog, ''New Scientist'', 7 May 2010, retrieved 08/05/2010.
Bibliography
Books
* ''Quantum Computing and Communications'', edited by Brooks ( Springer Verlag, 1999)
* ''Entanglement'' (2007)
* '' 13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The most baffling scientific mysteries of our time'' (Profile Books
Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current affairs, travel and popular science.
Profile Books is distributed in the UK ...
, 2008); US, Doubleday, 2008
* ''Physics'' ( Quercus Books, The Big Questions, 2010)
*
Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science
' (Profile, 2011, )
Essays and reporting
* "In Place of God: Can Secular Science ever oust Religious Belief – and should it even try?", ''New Scientist'', 20 November 2006
References
External links
*
13ThingsThatDontMakeSense.com
– with inactive "discussion forum for the issues raised" in the book
*
Official Science Party Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Michael
1970 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Sussex
English science writers
Place of birth missing (living people)
British science journalists
New Statesman people