Simon Lehna Singh, MBE is a British
popular science author whose works
largely contain a strong mathematical
element. His written works include
Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book,
Big Bang, Trick or Treatment?
Alternative Medicine on Trial and The
Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets.
In 2012 Singh founded the Good Thinking
Society.
Singh 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.
Education 
Singh's parents emigrated from Punjab,
India to Britain in 1950. He is the
youngest of three brothers, his eldest
brother being Tom Singh, the founder of
the UK New Look chain of stores. Singh
grew up in Wellington, Somerset,
attending Wellington School, and went on
to Imperial College London, where he
studied physics. He was active in the
student union, becoming President of the
Royal College of Science Union. Later he
completed a PhD degree in particle
physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge
and at CERN, Geneva.
Career 
In 1983, he was part of the UA2
experiment in CERN. In 1987, Singh
taught science at The Doon School, the
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 and
Horizon. Singh was introduced to Richard
Wiseman through their collaboration
onTomorrow's World. At Wiseman's
suggestion, Singh directed a segment
about politicians lying in different
mediums, and getting the public's
opinion on if 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, 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. The
documentary was originally transmitted
in October 1997 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 story of this celebrated
mathematical problem was also the
subject of Singh's first book, Fermat's
last theorem. In 1997, he began working
on his second book, The Code Book, a
history of codes and codebreaking. As
well as explaining the science of codes
and describing the impact of
cryptography 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 that sealed the
fate of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the
coded Zimmermann 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 the
Internet.
On his activities as author he said in
an interview to Imperial College London:
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 for services
to science, technology and engineering
in education and science communication.
In the same year he was made Doctor of
Letters by Loughborough University, and
in 2005 was given an honorary degree in
Mathematics by the University of
Southampton.He continues to be involved
in television and radio programmes,
including A Further Five Numbers.
He made headlines in 2005 when he
criticised the Katie Melua song "Nine
Million Bicycles" for inaccurate lyrics
referring to the size of the observable
universe. Singh proposed corrected
lyrics, though he used the value of 13.7
billion light years; accounting for
expansion of the universe, the comoving
distance to the edge of the observable
universe is 46.5 billion light years.
BBC Radio 4'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. 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". This was followed up by
his receipt of the Kelvin Medal from the
Institute 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 by Royal Holloway, University of
London. In July 2011, he was awarded
another degree of Doctor of Science by
the University of Kent for services to
Science. In June 2012, Singh was awarded
the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science
for his contribution to science
communication, education and academic
freedom by The University of St Andrews.
Singh was part of an investigation about
Homeopathy 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 preventative malaria medication.
All ten homeopaths recommended
homeopathy as a substitute. This
investigation was reported by the BBC.
Simon is a member of the Advisory
Council for the Campaign for Science and
Engineering. He is the inaugural
recipient of the Lilavati Award. In
February 2011 he was elected as a Fellow
of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Chiropractic lawsuit 
In 19 April 2008, The Guardian published
Singh's column "Beware the Spinal Trap",
an article that was critical of the
practice of chiropractic and which
resulted in Singh being sued for libel
by the British Chiropractic Association.
The article developed the theme of the
book that Singh and Edzard Ernst had
published, Trick or Treatment?
Alternative Medicine on Trial, and made
various statements about the lack of
usefulness of chiropractic "for such
problems as ear infections and infant
colic":
When the case was first brought against
him, The Guardian supported him and
funded his legal advice, as well as
offering to pay the BCA's legal costs in
an out-of-court settlement if Singh
chose to settle. A "furious backlash" to
the lawsuit resulted in the filing of
formal complaints of false advertising
against more than 500 individual
chiropractors within one 24-hour period,
with one national chiropractic
organisation ordering its members to
take down their websites, and Nature
Medicine noting that the case had
gathered wide support for Singh, as well
as prompting calls for the reform of
English libel laws. On 1 April 2010,
Simon Singh won his court appeal for the
right to rely on the defence of fair
comment. On 15 April 2010, the BCA
officially withdrew its lawsuit, ending
the case. To defend himself for the
libel suit, Singh's out-of-pocket legal
costs were tens of thousands of pounds,
but the trial has acted as a catalyst
and focus for libel reform campaigners
resulting in all major parties in the
2010 UK general election making
manifesto commitments to libel reform.
On 25 April 2013 the Defamation Act 2013
received Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal
Assent and became law. The purpose of
the reformed law of defamation is to
'ensure that a fair balance is struck
between the right to freedom of
expression and the protection of
reputation'. Under the new law,
plaintiffs must show that they suffer
serious harm before the court will
accept the case. Additional protection
for website operators, defence of
'responsible publication on matters of
public interest' and new statutory
defences of truth and honest opinion are
also part of the key areas of the new
law.
Bibliography 
Fermat's Last Theorem – the theorem's
initial conjecture and eventual proof
The Code Book – a history of
cryptography – ISBN 978-1-85702-879-9
Big Bang – discusses models for the
origin of the universe – ISBN
0-00-719382-3
Trick or Treatment?: Alternative
Medicine on Trial – examines various
types of alternative medicine, finds
lack of evidence – ISBN 0-593-06129-2
The Simpsons and Their Mathematical
Secrets – highlights mathematical
references in The Simpsons – ISBN
1-620-40277-7
References 
External links 
Simon Singh's official website
Simon Singh's page, Conville and Walsh
Radio shows
Simon Singh: The five most important
numbers in mathematics
Simon Singh: Another five numbers
Simon Singh: A further five numbers
Other
Undergraduate Ambassadors' Scheme,
co-founded by Simon Singh
Simon Singh: No miracle cure for junk
science
Archive of Happy Families, a British
Chiropractic Association brochure that
claimed "chiropractic care ... helped
children" with asthma, bedwetting and
baby colic, claims Dr. Singh took issue
with, all ending in a lawsuit.
Transcript of Court of Appeal judgment
on leave to appeal, 14 October 2009.
Ten Questions that BCA Members Should
Now Be Asking, an analysis of the legal
and practical position that BCA members
are in as a result of the lawsuit, by
Jack of Kent.
Chiropractors Try to Silence Simon Singh
Simon Singh. "Pi in the Simpsons".
Numberphile. Brady Haran.
