Colin Pask

Colin Pask (born 1943) is a British mathematical physicist and science writer.

Life

He was born in Great Gonerby, on the outskirts of Grantham in Lincolnshire, where his father was a dairy farmer. 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. He graduated B.Sc. there in 1964.

Career 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. He spent a period at Duke University, then returned to the University of New South Wales as lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics.

Research interests As a post-doctoral researcher, Pask turned to optical physics and biological vision, among other topics. Work of Pask and Kevin Barrell from 1980 contributed to the theory of the apposition eye.

During the 1970s, Pask also published on attenuation effects in optical fibres. He collaborated in this area with Adrian Ankiewicz.

Works

Pask has written some works of popularisation:

Math for the Frightened: Facing Scary Symbols and Everything Else That Freaks You Out About Mathematics (2011) Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece (2013) Great Calculations: A Surprising Look Behind 50 Scientific Inquiries (2015)