Angela Saini
Angela Saini (born in London, 1980) is a British science journalist, broadcaster and the author of books, of which the third, Superior: The Return of Race Science, was published in 2019.[1] Her work has appeared in Science, Wired, The Guardian, The New Humanist and New Scientist. She is also a presenter on BBC radio.
Angela Saini | |
---|---|
Born | 1980 (age 39–40) London, England, U.K. |
Education | Masters in Engineering Science |
Alma mater | Keble College, Oxford, King's College London |
Occupation | Journalist |
Notable work | Geek Nation, Inferior, Superior |
Website | www |
Early life and education
She holds two master's degrees - in Engineering from the University of Oxford and in Science and Security from the Department of War Studies at King's College London.[2][3]
Career
Saini worked as a reporter at the BBC, and left in 2008 to become a freelance writer.[4] In 2008 Saini won a Prix CIRCOM for her investigation of fake universities, focusing on Isles International University.[5][6] She was named European Young Science Writer of the Year in 2009.[7][8]
Saini's first book, Geek Nation: How Indian Science is Taking Over the World, was published in 2011.
In 2012 she won the Association of British Science Writers Award for best news item, 2012.[9] She was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 2012 and 2013.[10] In 2015 she won the American Association for the Advancement of Science Gold Award.[11]
Her second book, Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story, was published in 2017.[12] The magazine of the Institute of Physics, Physics World, named Inferior as book of the year 2017. Saini told Physics World that her aim was to tackle the contradictory information on gender studies put forward in the media and in scholarly journals.
“Really I just wanted to get to the heart of that riddle… what does science actually say about men and women and what is the true extent of the sex differences between us?”[13]
In August 2017 an internal memo written by a Google employee about the company's diversity policies, "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber", received public attention. Saini criticised the memo, calling it "[not] just intellectual laziness; [but] prejudice masquerading as fact".[14][15]
Her third book, Superior: The Return of Race Science, was published in May 2019. It was named as one of the top 10 books of 2019 by the science magazine Nature.[16] “People want to believe they were born into a special group. Group superiority really appeals to them,” Saini says. In addition, “Very often they’re not remarkable people in their own right, and they need to believe something about themselves that makes them feel better about who they are.”[3]
Books
- Saini, Angela (2011). Geek Nation: How Indian Science is Taking Over the World. Hodder & Stoughton - Hodder Paperbacks. ISBN 978-1444710168.
- Saini, Angela (2017). Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong - and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story. HarperCollins UK - 4th Estate. ISBN 978-0008172039.
- Saini, Angela (2019). Superior: The Return of Race Science. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0008341008.
Television appearances
- Saini appeared on the 2018/2019 Christmas University Challenge series representing King's College London, alongside Anita Anand (captain), Zoe Laughlin, and Anne Dudley.[17]
- Saini presented the BBC Four documentary Eugenics: Science's Greatest Scandal, with disability rights activist and actor Adam Pearson.[18]
References
- "What Are You?". The Science Factory. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- "Angela Saini". Inspirefest 2019 | Dublin, 16 & 17 May 2019. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- Grossman, Wendy M. "The Power Behind Misinformation". Skeptical Inquirer. Center for Inquiry. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- Oliver, Laura. "'Why I quit the BBC': Angela Saini, freelance science journalist". 10/10/2008. Journalism.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- Saini, Angela. "A Degree of Deception". Jan. 7, 2008. The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- "Reporter wins European journalism award". AIM Magazine. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- "Geek Nation: How Indian Science is Taking Over the World". www.nhbs.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- "Geek Nation | Independent Publishers Group". www.ipgbook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ABSW. "Awards of the 21st Century". Association of British Science Writers. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- "Announcing 2012–2013 Knight Fellows". Knight Science Journalism at MIT. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- "2015 Winners Named in Expanded AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards Competition". AAAS - The World's Largest General Scientific Society. 3 November 2015. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- Gawrylewski, Andrea (2017). "Recommended". Scientific American. 316 (6): 74. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0617-74. PMID 28510567.
- Commissariat, Tushna (2018). "Inferior by Angela Saini wins Physics World Book of the Year 2017". Physics World. 31 (1): 41. doi:10.1088/2058-7058/31/1/34. ISSN 2058-7058.
- Saini, Angela (7 August 2017). "Silicon Valley's weapon of choice against women: shoddy science | Angela Saini". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- "Opinion | How modern science failed women". NBC News. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- "Nature's top ten books of 2019". 16 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
- "BBC - Christmas University Challenge alumni line-up announced - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- "BBC Four - Eugenics: Science's Greatest Scandal". BBC. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
External links
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