INTRODUCTION

Hello! I'm Dr Sharon Ann Holgate and I'm a Freelance Science Writer and Broadcaster based in Sussex in the UK.
I am also a Visiting Fellow in Physics and Astronomy at Sussex University.

  My doctorate is in physics and so far I have written about physics and technology for New Scientist, The Times Higher Education Supplement, Focus, Flipside, Astronomy Now, Physics World, the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. As well as writing serious pieces, I also like to write light-hearted articles - particular favourites being features for Focus magazine on the World's most useless inventions, and the science and history of toilet paper, which I discussed with Chris Evans on his BBC Radio2 Drivetime show!

Did you know that before toilet paper was produced in 1857, people had used everything from ostrich feathers to rags, leaves and grass to perform the task? Unbelievably it took another 90 years to really catch on, as many people favoured ripped up newspapers instead!

  My broadcasting tends to cover a wider range of science topics and has even found me metamorphosing into an alter ego called 'MC Shaz' for a BBC World Service youth programme called 'The Edge'! I made two series of E=MC Shaz - short pieces in which I investigated some of the claims pop music lyrics make about science - for The Edge, as well as a report about environmentally friendly guitars and a feature on the science of bras!

Did you know that there are up to 50 components in some bras, and that engineering techniques can be used to measure the strains exerted by bras on womens' bodies?

  As well as broadcasting on the BBC World Service, I have written and presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary on the Indian physicist S.N.Bose - which was shortlisted for the Syngenta ABSW Science Writers' Awards 2005, appeared on a 'Boffins Special' of the Weakest Link with Anne Robinson on BBC2, been a studio guest on Midweek with Libby Purves on BBC Radio 4, and enjoyed many live science slots on Bill Buckley's afternoon show on BBC Southern Counties Radio. Bill and I discussed everything from time travel to telescopes, and from sunspots to sport for the lazy.

Did you know that according to British researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University just imagining doing exercise can help make our muscles stronger? So no excuses that you haven't got time to go to the gym!

  I have also begun writing for children, and am co-author of a book called 'The Way Science Works' which was published by Dorling Kindersley in April 2002, and was shortlisted for the Junior Prize in the Aventis Prizes for Science Books 2003. My next book 'Solid State Physics: An Accessible Introduction for Undergraduates' - which is a textbook on the physics of solids that I have been working on since 2000 - is due for publication by Taylor & Francis in 2008.

In January 2007, I was awarded the Institute of Physics Young Professional Physicist of the Year award for 2006, which I was obviously delighted about!