Category Archives: Uncategorized

I live in Herne Hill, south London, so it was great to be invited to take part in my local TEDx this summer — TEDxBrixton. Thanks very much to Linnie Rawlinson and Stephanie Busari for asking. My talk on the … Continue reading →

I wasn’t the only person to be pretty disappointed in the Independent’s decision to give a platform this weekend to Andrew Wakefield’s ludicrous and self-serving claim that the Swansea measles epidemic is not his fault, but the Government’s. Martin Robbins … Continue reading →

As those of you who follow me on Twitter will know, I was, like most science writers, appalled to learn that the plagiarist and fabricator Jonah Lehrer was paid $20,000 by the Knight Foundation this week to lecture about his … Continue reading →

Well well. This was not news I was expecting. Via Beck Smith of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, I’ve just learned that David Tredinnick has been chosen by his fellow Conservative MPs to fill a vacant place on the … Continue reading →

A new set of literary awards launches next week, the Political Book Awards, sponsored by Total Politics magazine and the bookmaker Paddy Power. And I’m very excited to say that The Geek Manifesto has been shortlisted! I’m in the running … Continue reading →

When we published The Geek Manifesto in the United States last year, the fabulous science writer David Dobbs agreed to provide a short foreword that would explain why its message mattered to an American audience. It’s already available with the … Continue reading →

The paperback edition of The Geek Manifesto is out on Thursday, January 3, and all the usual outlets are already taking orders. You can find it on Amazon here, and if you’re avoiding Amazon for tax reasons, you can get … Continue reading →

Brilliant news in today’s new year’s honours list, of a knighthood for David Payne, Professor of Photonics at the University of Southampton. He deserves to be far better known than he is — I explain why in The Geek Manifesto, … Continue reading →

In The Geek Manifesto, I point out that it’s important for those of us who care about and appreciate science to respond to public consultations, so that our views can be heard and taken into account. There are just 48 … Continue reading →

So maths works. Who knew? For weeks, the statisticians Nate Silver and Sam Wang have been predicting an Obama victory, on the strength of proper statistical models that include all relevant state polls. This morning, they’ve been utterly vindicated. Assuming … Continue reading →