Simon Singh
Encyclopedia
Simon Lehna Singh, MBE
(born 1 January 1964) is a British
author
who has specialised in writing about mathematical
and scientific
topics in an accessible manner.
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
. A "furious backlash" to the lawsuit resulted in the filing of formal complaints of false advertising against more than 500 individual chiropractors within one 24 hour period, with one national chiropractic organisation ordering its members to take down their websites, 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. On 1 April 2010, Simon Singh won his court appeal for the right to rely on the defence of fair comment. On 15 April 2010, the BCA officially withdrew its lawsuit, ending the case.
to Britain in 1950. He is the youngest of three brothers, his eldest brother being Tom Singh
, the founder of the UK New Look
chain of stores. Singh 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. Later he completed a PhD
degree in particle physics
at Emmanuel College
, Cambridge University
and at CERN
, Geneva.
and Horizon.
Singh directed his BAFTA
award-winning documentary about the world's most notorious mathematical problem entitled "Fermat's Last Theorem" in 1996. 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. 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
. 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. 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.
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". 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
. In July 2011, he was awarded another degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the University of Kent for services to Science.
Simon is a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering
. He is the maiden winner of the Lilavati Award
. In February 2011 he was elected as a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
published Singh's column "Beware the Spinal Trap", an article that was critical of the practice of chiropractic
and which resulted in Singh being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association
(BCA). 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.
The article developed the theme of the book that Singh and Edzard Ernst
had just published, 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
":
ruled in a preliminary hearing
at the Royal Courts of Justice
that merely using the phrase "happily promotes bogus treatments" meant that Singh was stating, as a matter of fact (rather than as a matter of personal opinion or metaphor), 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.
Singh decided to appeal the ruling, which raised substantially the potential financial liability that he would face if he lost the case. Leave to appeal was granted in October 2009.
The pre-trial hearing took place in February 2010 before three senior judges at the Royal Courts of Justice. In April 2010, they allowed Singh's appeal, ruling that the high court judge had "erred in his approach". The Court of Appeal overturned the previous ruling that Singh's comments were an assertion of fact and instead ruled that Singh was entitled to defend his comments as legally permissible fair comment
.
BCA withdrew their libel action shortly after this ruling, resulting in the end of the legal case.
to criticise alternative medicine
. 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
.
The Wall Street Journal Europe
cited the case as an example of how British libel law "chills free speech", saying that:
The charity Sense About Science
launched a lobbying campaign to draw attention to the case. They issued a statement and began an online petition entitled "The English law of libel has no place in scientific disputes about evidence", which was signed by about 20,000 people. Many press sources have covered the issue.
The publicity produced by the libel action led to a "furious backlash", with formal complaints of false advertising
being made against more than 500 individual chiropractors within one 24-hour period, with the number later climbing to one-quarter of all British chiropractors. 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." 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."
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:
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".
Radio shows
Other
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1 January 1964) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
who has specialised in writing about mathematical
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and scientific
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
topics in an accessible manner.
His written works include Fermat's Last Theorem
Fermat's Last Theorem (book)
Fermat's Last Theorem is a popular science book by Simon Singh. It tells the story of the search for a proof of Fermat's last theorem, first conjectured by Pierre de Fermat in 1637...
(in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
titled Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem), The Code Book
The Code Book
This is about a book called The Code Book, for other uses see Codebook The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography is a book written by Simon Singh and published in 1999 by Doubleday of New York; ISBN 0-385-49531-5.The Code Book covers a diverse set of...
(about cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
and its history
History of cryptography
The history of cryptography begins thousands of years ago. Until recent decades, it has been the story of what might be called classic cryptography — that is, of methods of encryption that use pen and paper, or perhaps simple mechanical aids...
), Big Bang
Big Bang (book)
Big Bang: The most important scientific discovery of all time and why you need to know about it is a book written by Simon Singh and published in 2004 by Fourth Estate....
(about the Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
theory and the origins of the universe) and Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial
Trick or Treatment
Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial is a 2008 book about alternative medicine by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. Singh is a physicist and the writer of several popular science books...
(about complementary and alternative medicine).
He has also produced documentaries and works for television to accompany his books, is a trustee of NESTA
NESTA
The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts is an independent endowment in the United Kingdom established by an Act of Parliament in 1998....
, the National Museum of Science and Industry
National Museum of Science and Industry
The National Museum of Science and Industry is a collection of British museums, comprising:* The Science Museum, incorporating the Science Museum Library and the Wellcome collections of the history of medicine at South Kensington in London....
and co-founded the Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme
Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme
The Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme is a program in the United Kingdom devised to encourage students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs to enter teaching by awarding them with degree course credits.-History:...
.
In 2008, Singh was unsuccessfully sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association
British Chiropractic Association
The British Chiropractic Association was founded in 1925 and represents over 50% of UK chiropractors. It is the largest and longest established association for chiropractors in the United Kingdom...
for criticising their activities in a column in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. A "furious backlash" to the lawsuit resulted in the filing of formal complaints of false advertising against more than 500 individual chiropractors within one 24 hour period, with one national chiropractic organisation ordering its members to take down their websites, and Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine is an academic journal publishing research articles, reviews, news and commentaries in the biomedical area, including both basic research and early-phase clinical research. Topics covered include cancer, cardiovascular disease, gene therapy, immunology, vaccines, and neuroscience...
noting that the case had gathered wide support for Singh, as well as prompting calls for the reform of English libel laws. On 1 April 2010, Simon Singh won his court appeal for the right to rely on the defence of fair comment. On 15 April 2010, the BCA officially withdrew its lawsuit, ending the case.
Early life
Singh's parents emigrated from the Punjab in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to Britain in 1950. He is the youngest of three brothers, his eldest brother being Tom Singh
Tom Singh
Tom Singh OBE is the founder of the New Look chain of high street fashion stores in the United Kingdom. He is the eldest brother of author and broadcaster Dr Simon Singh. He is a graduate of the University of Wales....
, the founder of the UK New Look
New Look (store)
New Look is a British global fashion retailer with a chain of high street shops in Britain, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.-History:...
chain of stores. Singh grew up in Wellington, Somerset
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town...
, attending Wellington School
Wellington School, Somerset
Wellington School is a British co-educational independent school in Wellington, Somerset, England catering for both day pupils and boarders. There are currently 750 pupils on roll including 200 students in the sixth form. The Headmaster is Martin Reader....
, and went on to Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
, where he studied Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. He was active in the student union, becoming President of the Royal College of Science
Royal College of Science
The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Alumni include H. G. Wells and Brian May and are distinguishable by the letters ARCS ...
Union. Later he completed a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
at Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and at CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
, Geneva.
Career
In 1990 Singh joined the BBC's Science and Features Department, where he was a producer and director working on programmes such as Tomorrow's WorldTomorrow's World
Tomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series, showcasing new developments in the world of science and technology. First aired on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003.- Content :...
and Horizon.
Singh directed his BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
award-winning documentary about the world's most notorious mathematical problem entitled "Fermat's Last Theorem" in 1996. The film was memorable for its opening shot of a middle-aged mathematician, Andrew Wiles
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles KBE FRS is a British mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford University, specializing in number theory...
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
NOVA (TV series)
Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
. The Proof, as it was re-titled, was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
The story of this celebrated mathematical problem was also the subject of Singh's first book, Fermat's last theorem. 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
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
on history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, the book also contends that cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
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
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
that sealed the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the coded Zimmermann Telegram
Zimmermann Telegram
The Zimmermann Telegram was a 1917 diplomatic proposal from the German Empire to Mexico to make war against the United States. The proposal was caught by the British before it could get to Mexico. The revelation angered the Americans and led in part to a U.S...
that changed the course of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Other programmes discuss how two great 19th century geniuses raced to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
and how modern encryption can guarantee privacy on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. 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
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(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
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...
, and in 2005 was given an honorary degree in Mathematics by Southampton University.
Currently, he is involved more in television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
programmes, including A Further Five Numbers (BBC Radio 4, 2005).
He made headlines in 2005 when he criticised the Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
song "Nine Million Bicycles
Nine Million Bicycles
"Nine Million Bicycles" is a song written and produced by Mike Batt for the singer Katie Melua's second album, Piece by Piece. It was released as the album's first single in September 2005 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Melua's first top five hit as a solo artist...
" for inaccurate lyrics referring to the size of the observable universe
Observable universe
In Big Bang cosmology, the observable universe consists of the galaxies and other matter that we can in principle observe from Earth in the present day, because light from those objects has had time to reach us since the beginning of the cosmological expansion...
. Singh proposed corrected lyrics, though he used the value of 13.7 billion light years; accounting for expansion of the universe, the comoving distance
Comoving distance
In standard cosmology, comoving distance and proper distance are two closely related distance measures used by cosmologists to define distances between objects...
to the edge of the observable universe is 46.5 billion light years. BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
'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.
In 2006, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Design degree by the University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
"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". This was followed up by his receipt of the Kelvin Medal
Kelvin Prize
The Kelvin Medal and Prize is awarded by the Institute of Physics. It was established in 1994 and named after Lord Kelvin. The prize is awarded each year to acknowledge outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics.-Kelvin Medallists:...
from the Institute of Physics
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....
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
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
. In July 2011, he was awarded another degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the University of Kent for services to Science.
Simon is a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering
Campaign for Science and Engineering
The Campaign for Science and Engineering is a non-profit organization which promotes science and engineering in the UK. It focuses on arguing for more research funding, promoting a high-tech and knowledge-based economy, highlighting the need for top-quality science and maths education at all...
. He is the maiden winner of the Lilavati Award
Lilavati Award
The Lilavati Award has been instituted at the International Congress of Mathematicians, 2010 held in Hyderabad, India, for outstanding contribution to public outreach in mathematics by an individual. It carries a citation and a cash prize of one million Indian rupees The Lilavati Award has been...
. In February 2011 he was elected as a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
Chiropractic lawsuit and backlash
In 19 April 2008, The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
published Singh's column "Beware the Spinal Trap", an article that was critical of the practice of chiropractic
Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine...
and which resulted in Singh being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association
British Chiropractic Association
The British Chiropractic Association was founded in 1925 and represents over 50% of UK chiropractors. It is the largest and longest established association for chiropractors in the United Kingdom...
(BCA). 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.
The article developed the theme of the book that Singh and Edzard Ernst
Edzard Ernst
Edzard Ernst is the first Professor of Complementary Medicine in the world, at the University of Exeter, England....
had just published, Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial, and made various statements about the usefulness of chiropractic
Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine...
"for such problems as ear infections
Otitis media
Otitis media is inflammation of the middle ear, or a middle ear infection.It occurs in the area between the tympanic membrane and the inner ear, including a duct known as the eustachian tube. It is one of the two categories of ear inflammation that can underlie what is commonly called an earache,...
and infant colic
Baby colic
Colic is a condition in which an otherwise healthy baby cries or displays symptoms of distress frequently and for extended periods, without any discernible reason...
":
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 colicBaby colicColic is a condition in which an otherwise healthy baby cries or displays symptoms of distress frequently and for extended periods, without any discernible reason...
, 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.
Court case
In May 2009, Mr Justice EadyDavid Eady
Sir David Eady , styled The Hon. Mr Justice Eady, in legal writing Eady J, is a High Court judge in England and Wales. As a judge he is known for having presided over many high-profile libel and privacy cases....
ruled in a preliminary hearing
Preliminary hearing
Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether there is enough evidence to require a trial...
at the Royal Courts of Justice
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is the building in London which houses the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales...
that merely using the phrase "happily promotes bogus treatments" meant that Singh was stating, as a matter of fact (rather than as a matter of personal opinion or metaphor), 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.
Singh decided to appeal the ruling, which raised substantially the potential financial liability that he would face if he lost the case. Leave to appeal was granted in October 2009.
The pre-trial hearing took place in February 2010 before three senior judges at the Royal Courts of Justice. In April 2010, they allowed Singh's appeal, ruling that the high court judge had "erred in his approach". The Court of Appeal overturned the previous ruling that Singh's comments were an assertion of fact and instead ruled that Singh was entitled to defend his comments as legally permissible fair comment
Fair comment
Fair comment is a legal term for a common law defense in defamation cases .-United States:In the United States, the traditional privilege of "fair comment" is seen as a protection for robust, even outrageous published or spoken opinions about public officials and public figures...
.
BCA withdrew their libel action shortly after this ruling, resulting in the end of the legal case.
Outside the courtroom
Before Eady's preliminary ruling was overturned on appeal, commentators said that the ruling could set a precedent that had chilling effects on the freedom of speechFreedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
to criticise alternative medicine
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
. 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
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
.
The Wall Street Journal Europe
The Wall Street Journal Europe
The Wall Street Journal Europe is a daily English-language newspaper that covers global and regional business news for Europe, the Middle East and Africa...
cited the case as an example of how British libel law "chills free speech", saying 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 BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
wrote in The Life of Galileo. It is time British politicians restrain the law so that wisdom prevails in the land, and not errors."
The charity Sense About Science
Sense About Science
Sense About Science is a British charity that promotes the public understanding of science. Sense About Science was conceived in 2002 by Lord Taverne, Bridget Ogilvie and others to promote respect for scientific evidence and good science. Sense About Science was established as a charitable trust in...
launched a lobbying campaign to draw attention to the case. They issued a statement and began an online petition entitled "The English law of libel has no place in scientific disputes about evidence", which was signed by about 20,000 people. Many press sources have covered the issue.
The publicity produced by the libel action led to a "furious backlash", with formal complaints of false advertising
False advertising
False advertising or deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or...
being made against more than 500 individual chiropractors within one 24-hour period, with the number later climbing to one-quarter of all British chiropractors. 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." One chiropractor is quoted as saying that "Suing Simon was worse than any Streisand effect
Streisand effect
The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely...
and chiropractors know it and can do nothing about it."
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 JournalBritish Medical JournalBMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
. 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..."
In a new report, the General Chiropractic Council
General Chiropractic Council
The General Chiropractic Council is the statutory governmental body responsible for the regulation of chiropractic in the United Kingdom.It was established by the Chiropractors Act 1994, which originated in a Private Members Bill promoted by David Lidington, to protect the public by regulating...
"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".
External links
- Simon Singh's official website
- Simon Singh's page, Conville and WalshConville and WalshConville & Walsh Ltd is a literary agency founded by Patrick Walsh and Clare Conville in 2000, and based in Soho, London. The agency numbers six book agents in a staff of eleven.Conville and Walsh is a full member of the Association of Authors' Agents....
Radio shows
- Simon Singh: The five most important numbers in mathematics
- Simon Singh: Another five numbers
- Simon Singh: A further five numbers
Other
- Undergraduate Ambassadors' Scheme, co-founded by Simon Singh
- Simon Singh: No miracle cure for junk science
- Archive of Happy Families, a British Chiropractic AssociationBritish Chiropractic AssociationThe British Chiropractic Association was founded in 1925 and represents over 50% of UK chiropractors. It is the largest and longest established association for chiropractors in the United Kingdom...
brochure that claimed “chiropractic care ... helped children” with asthmaAsthmaAsthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
, bedwettingBedwettingNocturnal enuresis, commonly called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually occurs. Nocturnal enuresis is considered primary when a child has not yet had a prolonged period of being dry...
and baby colicBaby colicColic is a condition in which an otherwise healthy baby cries or displays symptoms of distress frequently and for extended periods, without any discernible reason...
, claims Dr. Singh took issue with, all ending in a lawsuit. - Transcript of Court of Appeal judgment on leave to appeal, 14 October 2009.
- Ten Questions that BCA Members Should Now Be Asking, an analysis of the legal and practical position that BCA members are in as a result of the lawsuit, by Jack of Kent.
- Chiropractors Try to Silence Simon Singh