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Simon Singh

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Simon Singh
Singh speaking at TAM London in October 2009
Born1 Jan 1964
Somerset, England
Occupation(s)Author, TV presenter
SpouseAnita Anand

Simon Lehna Singh, MBE (born 1 Jan 1964) is a British author 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), Big Bang (about the Big Bang theory and the origins of the universe) and Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial (about complementary and alternative medicine).

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.

In 2008, Singh was unsuccessfully sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association for criticising their activities in a column in The Guardian.[1] A "furious backlash"[2] to the now dropped lawsuit has resulted in the filing of formal complaints of false advertising against more than 500 individual chiropractors within one 24 hour period, one national chiropractic organization ordering its members to take down their websites,[3] 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.[4] On 1 April 2010, Simon Singh won his court appeal for the right to rely on the defence of fair comment.[5] On 15 April 2010, the BCA officially withdrew its lawsuit, ending the case. [6].

Life and career

Singh's parents emigrated from the Punjab in India to Britain in 1950. He 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.[7] Later he completed a PhD degree in particle physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University and at CERN, Geneva.[8] 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 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. This was the first book about mathematics to become a No 1 bestseller in the UK.[citation needed] 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.[9] 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. 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.[10][11] 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.[12]

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".[13] 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.[14] In July 2008, he was also awarded a degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by Royal Holloway, University of London.[15]

Chiropractic lawsuit and backlash

File:Sas-libel-2.png
Simon Singh has been supported by the charity Sense About Science, which has published this button in his favour.[16]

On 19 April 2008, The Guardian published Singh's column "Beware the spinal trap",[17][18] which resulted in Singh being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association. 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.[19]

The article developed the theme of the recently published book by Singh and Edzard Ernst, Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial, and made various statements 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.[17]

On Thursday 7 May 2009, a preliminary hearing took place at the Royal Courts of Justice in front of Mr Justice Eady. The judge held that merely using the phrase "happily promotes bogus treatments" meant that he was stating, as a matter of fact, that the British Chiropractic Association was being consciously dishonest in promoting chiropractic for treating the children's ailments in question. Singh denied he intended any such meaning and stated that such an interpretation made it very difficult for him to fight his case in court as he had planned: "If we go to trial it's almost impossible for me to defend the article, because it's something I never meant in the first place."[19]

Singh's campaign team announced via its Facebook group on 4 June 2009[citation needed] that Singh had resolved to make an appeal against Mr Justice Eady's ruling. This decision raised substantially the potential financial liability that Singh might face personally if he had lost the case.

On 14 October 2009 Singh was granted leave to appeal Mr Justice Eady's decision by Lord Justice Laws.[20] Singh responded to the judgement that it was the "best possible result" but warned that he would try not to get his hopes up: "We have only won leave to appeal. Now we must convince the Court of Appeal on the issue of meaning. There is a long battle ahead."[21] The pre-trial hearing took place on 23 February 2010 at the Royal Courts of Justice. The three judges were the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, the Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger and Lord Justice Sedley, three of the most senior judges in the UK.[22]. On 1 April 2010, they allowed Singh's appeal, ruling that the high court judge had "erred in his approach".

Before the ruling, commentators had suggested that Eady's ruling could set a precedent to restrict freedom of speech to criticise alternative medicine.[23][24] An editorial in Nature commented on the case, and suggested that the BCA may be trying to suppress debate and that this use of English libel law is a burden on the right to freedom of expression, which is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.[25]

The Wall Street Journal Europe cited the case as an example of how British libel law "chills free speech", commenting that:

As a consequence, the U.S. Congress is considering a bill that would make British libel judgments unenforceable in the U.S. ... Mr. Singh is unlikely to be the last victim of Britain's libel laws. Settling scientific and political disputes through lawsuits, though, runs counter the very principles that have made Western progress possible. "The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error," Bertolt Brecht wrote in The Life of Galileo. It is time British politicians restrain the law so that wisdom prevails in the land, and not errors."[26]

The charity Sense About Science launched a campaign[16] to draw attention to the case. They issued a statement entitled "The English law of libel has no place in scientific disputes about evidence",[27] which has been signed by myriad individuals representing science, journalism, publishing, arts, humanities, entertainment, skeptics, campaign groups and law. As of Nov. 29, 2009, over 20,000 had signed.[28] Many press sources have covered the issue.[29]

The publicity produced by the libel action has led to a "furious backlash",[2] with formal complaints of false advertising being made against more than 500 individual chiropractors within one 24 hour period,[3][30] with the number later climbing to one quarter of all British chiropractors.[2] It also prompted the McTimoney Chiropractic Association to write in a leaked message to its members advising them to remove leaflets that make claims about whiplash and colic from their practice, to be wary of new patients and telephone inquiries, and telling their members: "If you have a website, take it down NOW." and "Finally, we strongly suggest you do NOT discuss this with others, especially patients."[3][2] One chiropractor is quoted as saying that "Suing Simon was worse than any Streisand effect and chiropractors know it and can do nothing about it."[2]

After demands that the British Chiropractic Association "engage in scientific debate over its position", the BCA produced its scientific evidence in a statement "supported by just 29 citations", which was:

"ripped apart by bloggers within 24 hours of publication, before being subjected to a further shredding in the British Medical Journal. It emerged that 10 of the papers cited had nothing to do with chiropractic treatment, and several weren't even studies. The remainder consisted of a small collection of poor-quality trials. More seriously, the BCA misled the public with a misrepresentation of one paper, a Cochrane review looking at the effectiveness of various treatments for bed-wetting..."[2]

In a new report, the General Chiropractic Council "has disowned the claims of the BCA – the same claims that lie at the centre of its libel action against Simon Singh.... Notably, the report concludes that the evidence does not support claims that chiropractic treatment is effective for childhood colic, bed-wetting, ear infections or asthma, the very claims that Singh was sued for describing as "bogus".[2]

On 1 April 2010, Singh won his appeal over the meaning of his comments.[31] The BCA had included in their case the assertion that by saying that it "happily promotes bogus treatments", Singh had accused the BCA of knowingly acting in a dishonest manner. The Court of Appeal overturned the previous ruling that his comments were an assertion of fact and instead ruled that they were fair comment.[32] Singh can now use the "fair comment" clause to defend himself.

The full text of the 1 April 2010 judgement[33] included the following statement:

23: The present case is not in this class: the material words, however one represents or paraphrases their meaning, are in our judgment expressions of opinion. The opinion may be mistaken, but to allow the party which has been denounced on the basis of it to compel its author to prove in court what he has asserted by way of argument is to invite the court to become an Orwellian ministry of truth. Milton, recalling in the Areopagitica his visit to Italy in 1638-9, wrote:
"I have sat among their learned men, for that honour I had, and been counted happy to be born in such a place of philosophic freedom, as they supposed England was, while themselves did nothing but bemoan the servile condition into which learning among them was brought; …. that nothing had been there written now these many years but flattery and fustian. There it was that I found and visited the famous Galileo, grown old a prisoner of the Inquisition, for thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican licensers thought."
That is a pass to which we ought not to come again.

On 15 April it was announced that the BCA had withdrawn their libel action.[34][35]

Bibliography

  • Singh, Simon (1997). Fermat's Last Theorem. Fourth Estate. ISBN 1-85702-669-1.
  • Singh, Simon (1998). Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem. Anchor. ISBN 0-385-49362-2.
  • Singh, Simon (2000). The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography. Anchor. ISBN 0-385-49532-3.
  • Singh, Simon (2005). Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe. Fourth Estate. ISBN 0-00-716220-0.
  • Singh, Simon; Ernst, Edzard (2008). Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial. Transworld. ISBN 978-0593061299.

References

  1. ^ Eden, R (2008-08-16). "Doctors take Simon Singh to court". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Martin Robbins. Furious backlash from Simon Singh libel case puts chiropractors on ropes. "One in four chiropractors in Britain are under investigation as a result of campaign by Singh supporters." The Guardian, 1 March 2010
  3. ^ a b c Lucas Laursen. "The Great Beyond: Chiropractic group advises members to 'withdraw from the battleground'". Nature.com. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  4. ^ Cassandra Willyard. "Lawsuit sparks calls for libel law reform". Nature Medicine. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Simon Singh wins libel court battle". Guardian. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  6. ^ "British Chiropractic Association v Singh - BCA admits defeat". Ely Place. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  7. ^ "The Simon Singh Interview". Imperial College London. October 1999. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  8. ^ Ph.D. thesis title: "Heavy flavour physics at the CERN p=p collider" Verified at [1] require subscription, eg. university subscription, to see it)
  9. ^ "No. 56963". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 14 June 2003.
  10. ^ Singh, Simon (30 September 2005). "Katie Melua's bad science". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Lineweaver, Charles (2005). "Misconceptions about the Big Bang". Scientific American. Retrieved 2008-11-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Listen Again". Today Programme. BBC Radio 4. 2005-10-15. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  13. ^ "UWE awards honorary degree to Dr Simon Singh MBE". News 2006. University of the West of England. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  14. ^ "The Kelvin Medal and Prize: 2008 Medallist". Subject Awards. Institute of Physics. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  15. ^ "2008 Honorary Graduates and Fellows become part of a prestigious network". Media & Events. Royal Holloway, University of London. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  16. ^ a b Sign up now to keep the libel laws out of science! Sense about Science
  17. ^ a b Singh, Simon (2008-04-19). "Beware the spinal trap". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
  18. ^ Comment is Free, The Guardian
  19. ^ a b Boseley, Sarah (Thursday 14 May 2009). "Science writer accused of libel may take fight to European court". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 2009-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Cressey, Daniel (Wednesday 14 October 2009). "Simon Singh vs the British Chiropractic Association, redux". nature.com. Retrieved 2009-10-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "News in brief: Singh wins leave to appeal". Times Higher Education. 29th October 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Judge 'baffled' by Simon Singh chiropractic case". Index on Censorship. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  23. ^ "Chiropractic critic loses first round in libel fight". New Scientist. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  24. ^ Green, David Allen (13 May 2009). "Comment: Don't criticise, or we'll sue". New Scientist. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  25. ^ "Unjust burdens of proof". Nature. 459 (7248): 751. 2009. doi:10.1038/459751a. PMID 19516290. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  26. ^ Salil Tripathi. Britain Chills Free Speech. The Wall Street Journal Europe, June 4, 2009
  27. ^ The law has no place in scientific disputes. Sense about Science
  28. ^ The campaign at a glance
  29. ^ Press Coverage
  30. ^ Lucas Laursen. "The Great Beyond: Complaints converge on chiropractors". Nature.com. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  31. ^ Science writer Simon Singh wins libel appeal BBC news 1st April 2010
  32. ^ Science writer wins "fair comment" libel appeal Reuters, Thu Apr 1, 2010
  33. ^ http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2010/350.html
  34. ^ Pallab Ghosh (15th April 2010). "Case dropped against Simon Singh". BBC News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ Mark Henderson (15th April 2010). "Science writer Simon Singh wins bitter libel battle". Times Online. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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