Simon Singh

Simon Lehna Singh ( born January 1, 1964 in Wellington, Somerset, England ) is a British freelance science journalist, author and producer.

Life

Singh studied physics at Imperial College in London and at Cambridge University. There he earned his doctoral degree ( Ph.D.) in particle physics.

From 1990 to 1997 he worked as a producer at the BBC, where she won the 1996 British Academy Award for Film and Television Arts for his documentary Fermat 's Last Theorem.

Under this title in 1997 his first book was published ( German: Fermat's Last Theorem, 2000), the first textbook of mathematics, which was a bestseller in the UK. Based on the story of Andrew Wiles and his proof of Fermat's theorem, attended by over 300 years, the best mathematician in the world had failed, Singh traces the history of mathematics from the ancient beginnings to today.

The Code Book was published in 1999, the history of cryptography ( German: Codebook, 2002). Published in 2004, Singh Big Bang, a book on the theory that the universe was created by a Big Bang ( German: Big Bang, 2005). For this book, he received the 2006 Science Writing Award from the American Institute of Physics.

Action

2008 Singh was sued by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA ) for libel, because he wrote in a column in The Guardian, she advertising for any fraudulent or false ( "bogus " ) therapies. In a backlash to the ongoing process complaints within a day to more than 500 chiropractors argued for misleading advertising, and a national chiropractic organization recommended its members to take their websites on the net. Singh learned global support of scientists and journalists, and the efforts to reform the English libel law, were boosted.

At the hearing before the High Court Justice Eady decided on 7 May 2009 on the importance of the disputed text passage: they did not constitute speech ( "fair comment" ) is but a statement of fact. Singh, however, went in appeal. On 1 April 2010 the Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of the appointment of Singh. The BCA has withdrawn its complaint on April 15, 2010.

Writings

• Fermat's Last Theorem. dtv, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-423-33052- X.
• Secret messages. Hanser, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-446-19873-3 and dtv, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-423-33071-6.
• Codes. dtv, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-423-62167-2.
• Big Bang. Hanser, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-446-20598-5 and dtv, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-423-34413-5.
• Edzard Ernst with: health without pills - what can be the alternative medicine? Hanser, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-446-23301-0.
• Homer's last sentence: The Simpsons and mathematics. Hanser, Munich, 2013, ISBN 978-3-446-43771-5