Colin Pask
Colin Pask (born 1943)[1] is a British mathematical physicist and science writer.
Life
[edit]He was born in Great Gonerby, on the outskirts of Grantham in Lincolnshire, where his father was a dairy farmer.[2] He was educated at King's School, Grantham from age 11, and went to Queen Mary College, London for a degree course in theoretical physics and mathematics.[3] He graduated B.Sc. there in 1964.[4]
Career
[edit]Pask studied for a Ph.D. in nuclear physics under John M. Blatt at the University of New South Wales from 1964, graduating in 1967 with a dissertation entitled Studies in the Nuclear Three-Body Problem.[3][5] He spent a period at Duke University, then returned to the University of New South Wales as lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics.[4]
In 1971 Pask moved to the Australian National University, with an Australian Research Council fellowship to work in the Department of Applied Mathematics there. He was made a Fellow in 1973, and Senior Fellow in 1978.[4] He moved in 1986 to become head of University College at UNSW Canberra at ADFA, retiring from that post after 12 years.[3]
Pask is now Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Sciences and History at University of New South Wales.[6]
Research interests
[edit]As a post-doctoral researcher, Pask turned to optical physics and biological vision, among other topics.[4] In 1973 he published with Allan Snyder an optical waveguide explanation of the Stiles–Crawford effect. Pask and McIntyre reviewed the theory and experimental results in the area, in a survey from 2013.[7] Work of Pask and Kevin Barrell from 1980 contributed to the theory of the apposition eye.[8]
During the 1970s, Pask also published on attenuation effects in optical fibres. He collaborated in this area with Adrian Ankiewicz.[9]
Works
[edit]Pask has written some works of popularisation:
- Math for the Frightened: Facing Scary Symbols and Everything Else That Freaks You Out About Mathematics (2011)[10]
- Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece (2013)[11]
- Great Calculations: A Surprising Look Behind 50 Scientific Inquiries (2015)[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "British National Bibliography, Pask, Colin, 1943-, The British Library". bnb.data.bl.uk.
- ^ "Emeritus Professor Colin Pask". research.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ a b c "Colin Pask". unsw.adfa.edu.au.
- ^ a b c d Journal of the Optical Society of America: Optics and image science. A. The Society. 1986. p. 1106.
- ^ "Colin Pask - The Mathematics Genealogy Project". genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu.
- ^ "Colin Pask". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ McIntyre, P.; Pask, C. (1 February 2013). "The Stiles–Crawford effect: a theoretical revisit". Journal of Modern Optics. 60 (4): 266–283. Bibcode:2013JMOp...60..266M. doi:10.1080/09500340.2013.770575. ISSN 0950-0340. S2CID 121098614.
- ^ Stavenga, Doekele G.; Hardie, Roger C. (6 December 2012). Facets of Vision. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 40. ISBN 978-3-642-74082-4.
- ^ Adams, M. J. (1981). An Introduction to Optical Waveguides. Wiley. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-471-27969-3.
- ^ Pask, Colin (2011). Math for the Frightened: Facing Scary Symbols and Everything Else that Freaks You Out about Mathematics. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-61614-421-0.
- ^ Pask, Colin (3 September 2013). Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-61614-746-4.
- ^ Pask, Colin (7 July 2015). Great Calculations: A Surprising Look Behind 50 Scientific Inquiries. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-63388-029-0.
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