Электронная книга: Simon Singh «Fermat’s Last Theorem»

Simon Singh

Simon Lehna Singh, MBE (born 1964) is an Indian-British author 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 being Tom 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" (about cryptography and its history) and "Big Bang" (about the Big 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 the British Chiropractic Association.

Biography

Singh's parents emigrated from the Punjab in India to Britain in 1950. He grew up in Wellington, Somerset, attending Wellington School, and then went on to Imperial College London, where he studied Physics, before completing a PhD degree in particle physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University and at CERN, 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 directed Fermat'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 an Emmy 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. 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. 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)" by Loughborough University, and in 2005 was given an honorary degree in Mathematics by Southampton University.

Currently, he is involved more in television and radio programmes, including "A Further Five Numbers" (BBC Radio 4, 2005).

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, 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 billion light-years 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 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 (Honoris Causa)" by Royal 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 of chiropractic "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."

Singh says that he will "contest the action vigorously... There is an important issue of freedom of speech at stake."Eden, Richard. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/2570744/Doctors-take-Simon-Singh-to-court.html Doctors take Simon Singh to court] - "Telegraph (newspaper)", 16 Aug 2008]

Bibliography

*cite book | author=Singh, Simon | title=Fermat's Last Theorem | publisher=Fourth Estate | year=1997 | id=ISBN 1-85702-669-1
*cite book | author=Singh, Simon | title=Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem | publisher=Anchor | year=1998 | id=ISBN 0-385-49362-2
*cite book | author=Singh, Simon | title=The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography | publisher=Anchor | year=2000 | id=ISBN 0-385-49532-3
*cite book | author=Singh, Simon | title=Big Bang: The Origin Of The Universe | publisher=Fourth Estate | year=2005 | id=ISBN 0-00-716220-0
*cite book | author=Singh, Simon and Ernst, Edzard | title=Trick Or Treatment?: Alternative Medicine On Trial| publisher=Transworld | year=2008 | id=ISBN 978-0593061299

References

External links

Biographical

* [http://www.simonsingh.net Simon Singh's official website]
* [http://www.nesta.org.uk/insidenesta/bios/2147/ Dr Simon Singh biography from NESTA]

Radio shows

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/5numbers.shtml Simon Singh: The five most important numbers in mathematics]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/another5.shtml Simon Singh: Another five numbers]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/further5.shtml Simon Singh: A further five numbers]

Other

* [http://www.nesta.org.uk/ourawardees/profiles/2069/ Theatre of Science, Simon Singh and Richard Wiseman funded by NESTA]
* [http://www.uas.ac.uk Undergraduate Ambassadors' Scheme, co-founded by Simon Singh]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1642336,00.html Simon Singh: No miracle cure for junk science]

Источник: Simon Singh