Sharon Ann Holgate - five way interview

Former Young Professional Physicist of the Year, Sharon Ann Holgate has a doctorate in experimental physics and has worked for the past twenty-five years as a freelance science writer and broadcaster. She has presented on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, and written for newspapers and magazines including Science, New Scientist and The Times Higher Education Supplement. She was co-author of The Way Science Works, a children’s popular science book shortlisted for the 2003 Junior Prize in the Aventis Prizes for Science Books, and has written four undergraduate physics textbooks. She also contributed to the popular science books 30-Second Quantum Theory and 30-Second Energy. In 2022 Sharon Ann won the Institute of Physics’ William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize 'for work in communicating science to a wide variety of audiences and for positive representations of scientists from non-traditional backgrounds'. Her latest book is Nuclear Fusion: The Race to Build a Mini-Sun on Earth. 

Why science?

I didn’t realise it at the time, but it was actually watching an episode of Fingerbobs as a 4-year-old child that inspired my interest in science. Crow wanted a drink but couldn’t reach the water in the bottom of a large beaker, so he began dropping in pebbles until the water level rose enough for him to sip it. I can remember dragging my Mum into the garden to collect some stones and then to the kitchen to find a jug so that we could repeat what I had just seen. I was absolutely transfixed by the water rising! 

Why this book? 

The climate emergency is one of the biggest challenges the world has ever faced. So the seeking of new, clean forms of electricity generation that would reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is an important and exciting topic to write about.  The history of fusion research is also fascinating: I particularly enjoyed learning about the 1950s machines such as the quirkily named Perhapsatron and the sci-fi sounding Hydromagnetic Plasma Gun. Discovering more about the ITER project in southern France and the work taking place at the National Ignition Facility in the United States was equally engrossing, as was interviewing scientists and engineers from the private companies currently building and testing a range of different fusion technologies.   

What date would you put on nuclear fusion power stations going live, and why then?

A few years after a commercially viable fusion technology has been perfected. Recent fusion history has shown that there is no point in trying to estimate a specific date. As with any developing area of science, fusion research is a process of discovery so you can’t necessarily achieve a definite aim within a set time frame. 

What’s next? 

Promoting my forthcoming book Communicating Science Clearly: A Self-Help Guide for Students and Researchers. Then, as a follow-on from winning the Lord Kelvin Medal, I am hoping to be able to use my experiences as a person with a physical disability to help encourage students from diverse backgrounds to enter science. 

What’s exciting you at the moment? 

Some of the recent advances in materials science and technology have certainly caught my eye. For instance the next generation of solar cells contain a layer of perovskite which makes them more efficient at converting sunlight into electricity. Also, who would have thought people would be walking around in trainers made from fungi!

Interview by Brian Clegg - See all of Brian's online articles or subscribe to a digest free here