Paul Birch (25 May 1956 – 4 July 2012) was a British author, engineer and scientist, who has worked in radioastronomy and satellite communications, and latterly wrote full-time. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby and Trinity College, Cambridge and worked for Marconi Defence Systems and Plessey Radar. He was a former Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. He also notably worked on Orbital rings and . He stood for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in an election taking 11.3% of the vote. He was a Town Councillor in Cowes, Isle of Wight at the time of his death.