Alom Shaha | |
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Born | 1973 (age 50–51) [1] |
Alma mater |
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Scientific career | |
Institutions | Camden School for Girls Humanists UK The Watford UTC BBC Royal Institution |
Website | alomshaha |
Alom Shaha (born 1973) [1] is a British-Bangladeshi science teacher, writer, and filmmaker. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] His books include The Young Atheist's Handbook: Lessons for Living a Good Life Without God, [7] Mr Shaha's Recipes for Wonder: adventures in science round the kitchen table, [8] and Mr Shaha's Marvellous Machines: adventures in making round the kitchen table. [9] He has also written for The Guardian , [10] The Big Issue, [1] BBC Science Focus , [11] New Humanist [12] and New Scientist [13] and spoken at events such as the Richmond Literature Festival [14] and Cheltenham Science Festival. [15] [16]
Shaha was born in Bangladesh and grew up in a Muslim family in the Elephant and Castle area of London where he developed an interest in atheism. [7] [5] He was educated at University College London [17] where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in physics, followed by Imperial College London (Master of Science degree in science communication), Goldsmiths, University of London (Master of Arts degree in creative writing and life writing and King's College London (Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Physics). [18]
Shaha is a teacher of physics. [19] He taught at Camden School for Girls from 2008 to 2020 [20] and The Watford UTC. [18]
Shaha was elected a councillor in the 1998 Southwark London Borough Council election for the London Borough of Southwark for the Liberal Democrats. [21]
Shaha is a patron of Humanists UK, [22] who have sent his books to secondary schools in the UK. [23] His work has been recognised by fellowships awarded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and the Nuffield Foundation. [5] He has worked on content creation for the BBC and the Royal Institution. [18]
Shaha has published books on popular science aimed at children, teenagers and their families including:
Shaha has co-authored textbooks on GCSE Science and A-Level Physics for the AQA examination board published by Oxford University Press:
Alongside appearances on YouTube, [29] Shaha's appearances on mainstream media have included:
Shaha speaks Sylheti fluently [5] having been born in a small village in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. [1]
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Many co-conspirators contributed to this set of ideas, among them in no particular order Alom Shaha, Michael Depodesta, Carole Kenrick, Steve Price, Dewi Lewis, Emre Sener, Anna Roffey, Patrick Thompson, Mark Miodownik, Stefan Gates, Bob Worley, Chris Howard, Stephen Potts, Tom Miller, Helen Czerski, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Paul McMillan, Martin Whitworth and many others
foreword by Jim Al-Khalili