His family moved to Brisbane, Australia that same year, returning to the UK in 1965 to live in Brighton.

[3] His father, Bernard, was an academic social scientist who was a professorial fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex from 1966 until his death in 1984.

[4] Simon's mother, Sheila, who died in 2010, was a university librarian and Labour councillor who was Mayor of Brighton in 1995.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Schaffer went to Harvard University for a year as a Kennedy Scholar to study the history of science.

[10] He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life with Steven Shapin.