North Wales

Dan Brown's inspiration to write her own book

Jul 27 2005

By David Greenwood, Daily Post

A WELSH scientist who inspired The Da Vinci Code by author Dan Brown last night unveiled plans to write her own thriller. In his book Angels And Demon, the top-selling writer acknowledged the work of former Aberystwyth student Caroline Thompson. As a "non member of staff", she delved into the complex and mind-boggling world of quantum entanglement in physics at the mid Wales university. The pair first made contact six years ago and exchanged ideas via e-mail, although they have never met face-to-face. But last night Caroline, who first became fascinated by physics while studying computing science at Aberystwyth, played down her role in the way Brown hatched his plots. "We just shared ideas and I responded to some of his own thoughts," she said.. Brown's books have topped the fiction charts worldwide with The Da Vinci Code hitting the incredible 30m mark. Caroline, 62, of Synod Inn, near New Quay, has her own website but now spends her days caring for her elderly parents. She said she has no idea why Brown chose to bounce his ideas about quantum physics off her. She said: "He first made made contact in 1999 and we had some very nice discussions online. His first question was linked to an experiment I knew about and I was able to help him out. "My main impact was an insider view of the world of leading physics experts and their arguments. I expect I helped fill in his general picture of the intrigues and politics that go on in what many would regard as a cold world of physics. "He told me he would acknowledge me in one of his books and would be using some of my material for promotional talks." Caroline said she recently started reading one of Brown's books and now has ambitions to write one of her own. She would at least like to inspire a thriller directly-based on her own main area of quantum physics interest. On a mission to revive scientific studies, she said: "It would be quite a challenge. "But I think a thriller of sorts could be built around my story. Who knows, Dan might be just the person to take it on," she added..