Alom Shaha

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Alom Shaha
Alom Shaha at an event in 2010 sponsored by I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here! and the Wellcome Trust
Born1973 (age 50–51)[1]
Alma mater
Scientific career
InstitutionsCamden School for Girls
Humanists UK
The Watford UTC
BBC
Royal Institution
Websitealomshaha.com Edit this at Wikidata

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]

Education and early life[edit]

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]

Career[edit]

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]

Popular science[edit]

Shaha has published books on popular science aimed at children, teenagers and their families including:

  • Mr Shaha's Recipes for Wonder: adventures in science round the kitchen table[8]
  • Mr Shaha's Marvellous Machines: adventures in making round the kitchen table[9]
  • Why Don't Things Fall Up?: and Six Other Science Lessons You Missed at School[24]
  • How to Find a Rainbow[25]

Textbooks[edit]

Shaha has co-authored textbooks on GCSE Science and A-Level Physics for the AQA examination board published by Oxford University Press:

  • Oxford Revise: AQA GCSE Physics[26]
  • Oxford Revise: AQA A-Level Physics [27]
  • Oxford Revise: AQA GCSE Combined Science[28]

Media[edit]

Alongside appearances on YouTube,[29] Shaha's appearances on mainstream media have included:

Personal life[edit]

Shaha speaks Sylheti fluently[5] having been born in a small village in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Shaha, Alom (2022). "Alom Shaha on the joy of making". bigissue.com. The Big Issue. Archived from the original on 2022-07-29.
  2. ^ Shaha, Alom (2018). "How to be your child's first science teacher". imperial.ac.uk. Imperial College London.
  3. ^ Daren J Caruana; Christoph G Salzmann; Andrea Sella (1 September 2020). "Practical science at home in a pandemic world". Nature Chemistry. 12 (9): 780–783. doi:10.1038/S41557-020-0543-Z. ISSN 1755-4330. PMID 32843749. Wikidata Q98726080. 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
  4. ^ Alom Shaha at Library of Congress
  5. ^ a b c d Shaha, Alom (2022). "About Alom". alomshaha.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  6. ^ Alom Shaha on Twitter Edit this at Wikidata
  7. ^ a b Shaha, Alom (2014). The Young Atheist's Handbook: lessons for living a good life without God. ISBN 9781849547222. OCLC 880401007. foreword by Jim Al-Khalili
  8. ^ a b Shaha, Alom (2018). Mr Shaha's Recipes for Wonder: Adventures in Science Round the Kitchen Table. Scribe Publications. ISBN 978-1-925321-89-0. OCLC 1041678420.
  9. ^ a b Shaha, Alom (2021). Mr Shaha's Marvellous Machines. ISBN 978-1913348120. OCLC 1255831219.
  10. ^ "Alom Shaha's profile at The Guardian". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  11. ^ "Alom Shaha: Science teacher, filmmaker and author". sciencefocus.com/author/alomshaha. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  12. ^ "Alom Shaha". newhumanist.org.uk.
  13. ^ "Alom Shaha". newscientist.com/author/alom-shaha. New Scientist. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  14. ^ "Alom Shaha at Richmond Literature Festival". scribepublications.co.uk. Scribe UK. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  15. ^ Gorman, Chloe (2022-03-31). "Cheltenham Science Festival announces line-up for its 20th anniversary year". soglos.com. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  16. ^ alomshaha.com Edit this at Wikidata
  17. ^ Schopen, Fay; Shaha, Alom; Mcleod, Maurice; Golby, Joel (2015). "My worst exam result – and how it affected me". The Guardian.
  18. ^ a b c Alom Shaha on LinkedIn Edit this at Wikidata
  19. ^ Shaha, Alom (2018). "How to find answers to life's questions: A physics teacher on why a career-focused science approach isn't good for students thinking outside the box". Index on Censorship. 47 (3): 36–38. doi:10.1177/0306422018800255. S2CID 126067374.
  20. ^ "Alom Shaha". felicitybryan.com. Felicity Bryan Associates. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  21. ^ Anon (1998). "Lambeth/Southwark Election Winners". newsshopper.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  22. ^ "New patron for Humanists UK: Alom Shaha, scientist and educator". humanists.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  23. ^ Flood, Alison (2014-05-01). "Young Atheist's Handbooks sent to secondary schools". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  24. ^ Shaha, Alom (2023). Why Don't Things Fall Up?: and Six Other Things You Missed at School. ISBN 978-1529348163.
  25. ^ Shaha, Alom (2024-02-08). How to Find a Rainbow. Sarthak Sinha. Scribble UK. ISBN 978-1-915590-39-8.
  26. ^ Reynolds, Helen; Shaha, Alom (2020). Oxford Revise: AQA GCSE Physics Revision and Exam Practice. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-382-01797-8.
  27. ^ Reynolds, Helen; Shaha, Alom; Jones, Catherine; Davenport, Carol (2020). Oxford Revise: AQA A-Level Physics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781382008600. OCLC 1334125199.
  28. ^ Boxer, Adam; Gardom-Hulme, Philippa; Locke, Jo; Reynolds, Helen; Shaha, Alom; Walmsley, Jessica (2020). Oxford Revise: AQA GCSE Combined Science. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1382004879.
  29. ^ "Alom Shaha on YouTube". youtube.com/c/alomshaha.
  30. ^ Alom Shaha at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  31. ^ a b Shaha, Alom (2015-03-21). "Films". alomshaha.com. Retrieved 2022-10-28.