Geoff Simons

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Geoff Simons
Born1939 Edit this on Wikidata
Died31 August 2011 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 71–72)

Geoffrey Leslie Simons (23 November 1939 – 31 August 2011), best known as Geoff L. Simons was a British freelance writer. In the 1980s, he was chief editor at the National Computing Centre in Manchester. A prolific author of non-fiction, he wrote books about sex, computers and politics, particularly the history of the Middle East.

Career[edit]

Geoff Simons was born in Stockport, and lived in or around Greater Manchester throughout his life. He worked as an Information Officer at several companies, as well as working as a technical author and editor.[1] He wrote hardware and software manuals at Ferranti and ICL. As Chief Editor at the NCC, he established Computer Journal Abstracts and wrote summaries for over 20,000 computer articles.[2]

Simons was a critic of US foreign policy, regarding sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s as genocide,[3] and the United States as "a plutocracy that shapes foreign policy in the cynical calculation of elitist commercial advantage".[4] In later life he was a frequent correspondent to newspapers, seeing his letters published in The Times,[5] the Sunday Times,[6] The Independent,[7] The Guardian,[8] the New Statesman,[9] and the Morning Star.[10] He died on 31 August 2011. He was survived by his widow, Christine, children, grandchildren and great-granddaughter.[11]

Skepticism[edit]

Simons was an atheist and skeptic. He was a member of Greater Manchester Humanists. In his book Is God a Programmer?, he defended atheism and criticized the argument from design.

Works[edit]

  • Sex in the Modern World, 1970.
  • A History of Sex, 1970.
  • Sex Tomorrow, 1971.
  • Does Sex Make You Feel Guilty?, 1972.
  • Pornography Without Prejudice: A Reply to Objectors, 1972.
  • A Place for Pleasure: The History of the Brothel, 1973.
  • The Witchcraft World, 1974.
  • The Simons Book of Sexual Records, 1975.
  • Introducing Microprocessors, 1979.
  • Robots in Industry, 1980.
  • The Uses of Microprocessors, 1980.
  • Introducing Word Processing, 1981.
  • Women in Computing, 1981.
  • The Illustrated Book of Sexual Records, 1982. Second ed., 1985.
  • Privacy in the Computer Age, 1982.
  • Computers in Engineering and Manufacture, 1982.
  • The Book of World Sexual Records, 1983.
  • Sex and Superstition, 1983.
  • Are Computers Alive? Evolution and New Life Forms, 1983.
  • Automating Your Office, 1984.
  • Computer Bits and Pieces: A Compendium of Curiosities, 1984.
  • Expert Systems and Micros, 1985.
  • Towards Fifth-generation Computers, 1986.
  • Is Man a Robot?, 1986.
  • Introducing Artificial Intelligence, 1984.
  • The Biology of Computer Life: Survival, Emotion and Free Will, 1985.
  • Silicon Shock: The Menace of the Computer Invasion, 1985.
  • (with R. T. Doswell) Fraud and Abuse of IT Systems, 1986.
  • Eco-computer: The Impact of Global Intelligence, 1987.
  • What is Software Engineering?, 1987.
  • Introducing Software Engineering, 1987.
  • Evolution of the Intelligent Machine: A Popular History of AI, 1988.
  • Is God a Programmer?: Religion in the Computer Age, 1988.
  • Silicon Psychosis: Derangement in the Global Network, 1989.
  • Viruses, Bugs and Star Wars: The Hazards of Unsafe Computing, 1989.
  • Robots: The Quest for Living Machines, New ed., 1994.
  • Robots and Robotics, 1992.
  • Libya: The Struggle for Survival, 1993. 2nd ed. (with foreword by Tam Dalyell), 1996.
  • Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam, 1994. Foreword by Tony Benn. 2nd ed., 1996. 3rd ed., 2003.
  • The United Nations: A Chronology of Conflict, 1994.
  • Korea: The Search for Sovereignty, 1995, Reprinted with foreword by Tony Benn, 1999.
  • UN Malaise: Power, Problems, and Realpolitik, 1995.
  • Cuba: From Conqistador to Castro, 1996.
  • The Scourging of Iraq: Sanctions, Law, and Natural Justice, 1996. 2nd ed., 1998.
  • Vietnam Syndrome: Impact on US Foreign Policy, 1998. Foreword by Tony Benn.
  • Saudi Arabia: The Shape of a Client Feudalism, 1998.
  • Iraq – Primus inter Pariahs: A Crisis Chronology, 1999.
  • Imposing Legal Sanctions: Legal Remedy or Genocidal Tool?, 1999.
  • Indonesia: The Long Oppression, 1999.
  • UN Reform: Addressing the Reality of American Power', Global Dialogue, Vol. 2., No. 2 (Spring 2000)
  • Targeting Iraq: Sanctions and Bombing in US Policy, 2002.
  • Future Iraq: US Policy in Reshaping the Middle East, 2003.
  • Colombia: A Brutal History, 2004.
  • Libya and the West: From Independence to Lockerbie, 2004. Foreword by Tony Benn.
  • The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006 pub by Palestinian Return centre
  • Iraq Endgame?: Surge, Suffering and the Politics of Denial, 2008.
  • Time to be Rational: Darwin, Demons and Sex, 2009.
  • Nuclear Nightmares, 2009.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Simons, Geoff (1984). Are Computers Alive?: Evolution and New Life Forms. Corgi Books. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-552-99093-6.
  2. ^ Simons, G. L. (1982). Computers in engineering and manufacture. NCC Publications. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-85012-347-0.
  3. ^ Letter: Iraqis killed by sanctions, The Independent, 1 August 1997
  4. ^ Letters Archived 4 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Global Dialogue, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Autumn 2000)
  5. ^ Letters to the editor of The Times, 23 February 2004, 13 March 2004, 19 September 2005.
  6. ^ Letter to the editor of the Sunday Times, 7 September 2003.
  7. ^ Letters to the editor of The Independent, 18 October 1993, 19 January 1996, 7 February 1997, 1 August 1997, 14 August 1997, 2 September 1997, 15 October 1998, 14 January 2002, 27 March 2002, 6 April 2002, 5 September 2002, 21 August 2003.
  8. ^ Letters to the editor of The Guardian, 6 July 1994, 8 January 2008, 3 March 2009, 7 April 2009, 25 April 2009, 19 August 2009, 4 September 2009, 21 September 2009, 23 July 2010, 27 July 2010, 23 April 2011, 3 May 2011.
  9. ^ Letters to the editor of the New Statesman, 28 February 2005, 6 June 2005, 19 September 2005, 7 November 2005, 6 February 2006, 21 December 2009, 4 January 2010, 18 February 2010.
  10. ^ Letters to the editor of the Morning Star, 7 January 2006, 22 March 2006, 6 April 2006.
  11. ^ "Geoff Simons - Greater Manchester Humanists (Manchester, England) - Meetup". 4 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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