Sumit Paul-Choudhury writes, thinks, and dreams about science, technology, and the future. His creative studio, Alternity, works on alternative histories, social experiments, and applied speculations. His first book, The Bright Side – an exploration of the psychology, philosophy, and practice of optimism – was published in January 2025. He is... Read more
Sumit Paul-Choudhury writes, thinks, and dreams about science, technology, and the future. His creative studio, Alternity, works on alternative histories, social experiments, and applied speculations. His first book, The Bright Side – an exploration of the psychology, philosophy, and practice of optimism – was published in January 2025. He is a partner in the communications consultancy Scientification LLP and a founding member of the Exploded View collective.
He trained as a physicist at Imperial College, where he earned a first-class B.Sc., but after graduating decided to try his hand at journalism while completing his M.Sc. in Mathematics at Queen Mary & Westfield. He started out in arts criticism but spent most of the next fifteen years writing about business and technology in London and New York, with an emphasis on financial engineering and risk management – subjects that would prove critical during the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Wanting to return to science, he joined New Scientist, the world’s most popular science weekly, in 2008, where he served as editor-in-chief until 2017. During his tenure, the magazine successfully expanded into social media, video, books, and events ranging from evening lectures to global expeditions. In addition, he was editor-in-chief of Arc, an acclaimed digital publication about the future, between 2012 and 2014; and in 2016, he served as founding creative director for New Scientist Live, the world’s most exciting festival of ideas and discovery.
After leaving New Scientist, he undertook the Sloan Fellowship in Strategy and Leadership at London Business School. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow in the Computing department at Goldsmiths and a Fellow of the RSA, where he sits on the Editorial Board. He is a Trustee of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and of the London-based arebyte digital art gallery. He also serves in various more or less formal capacities on several other projects, including Durham’s Light Years place-making initiative.
He has previously served as a judge for many prizes and awards, including the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize, the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, and the Costa Book Awards.
He lives, works, and fails to sleep in London.