Alom Shaha

Alom Shaha is a father of two and a Physics teacher at a comprehensive school in London. His latest book Why Don’t Things Fall up? (Hodder, 2023) uses apparently simple questions asked by children as starting points for a tour of the “big ideas” of science from his unique perspective. It was followed by How to Find a Rainbow (Scribble, 2024), Alom’s first children’s picture book which follows the adventures of two red panda sisters as they try to find a rainbow that keeps disappearing. 

Alom’s first book, The Young Atheist’s Handbook(Biteback, 2012) charts his childhood in a turbulent Muslim family on a south London housing estate, finding that stories and science led him to atheism. It was so well-loved by Humanists UK that they raised enough money to send a copy of it to every secondary school library in the country.

Mr Shaha’s Recipes for Wonder (Scribe, 2018) aims to convince parents of young children that, regardless of how little science they may know, they can and should be their child’s first science teacher. It was followed by Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines (Scribe, 2021), which provides clear, step-by-step instructions for over 15 projects and encourages children to enjoy, and learn from, the process of improving upon designs.

Photo courtesy of Ed Prosser