Private School News

Author and Broadcaster Simon Singh MBE Visits Caterham School

On Monday 10 May, Simon Singh MBE visited Caterham School to deliver a lecture on Science in the Media. His presentation explored the difficulty the media can experience in seeking to report scientific studies and gave an insight into how the media can, through omission or exaggeration, misrepresent these scientific achievements.

Simon Singh is a scientist and mathematician who is a leading author, documentary filmmaker and journalist. He attended Imperial College London, where he studied Physics and then he completed a PhD in Particle Physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and at CERN, Geneva. He has worked for the BBC 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. He has also presented The Science of Secrecy, a five part series for Channel 4. He has also written several books including Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Code Book, Big Bang and Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’Simon has established a well-deserved reputation for presenting scientific and mathematical topics in an accessible and entertaining way. He also explained that scientists can sometimes be hesitant about publishing scientific facts for fear of litigation by large organisations and corporations. His lecture was witty and thought provoking. I think the audience will have taken the message that we should be sceptics about claims for scientific achievement until all the facts have been established.’’