Matthew Watkins’s Followers (5)

Matthew Watkins

Website

http://empslocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/mrwatkin/

Genre

Professional & Technical, Arts & Photography

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Matthew Watkins completed a PhD in mathematics in 1994, but has always been more interested in trying to understand what mathematics "is" and "where it comes from" (as well as trying to explain it to his non-mathematical friends) than pursuing a conventional research or teaching career.

The second half of the 1990s were spent living as a nomadic musician (he plays the saz, a seven-stringed Turkish instrument), contemplating the underlying nature of reality while wandering the British Isles, busking, picking fruit, planting trees, visiting megalithic sites, etc. The music continues.

In 1999 he had a little maths and physics reference book published (also illustrated by Matt Tweed) as part of the popular Wooden Books series. This has since be Matthew Watkins completed a PhD in mathematics in 1994, but has always been more interested in trying to understand what mathematics "is" and "where it comes from" (as well as trying to explain it to his non-mathematical friends) than pursuing a conventional research or teaching career.

The second half of the 1990s were spent living as a nomadic musician (he plays the saz, a seven-stringed Turkish instrument), contemplating the underlying nature of reality while wandering the British Isles, busking, picking fruit, planting trees, visiting megalithic sites, etc. The music continues.

In 1999 he had a little maths and physics reference book published (also illustrated by Matt Tweed) as part of the popular Wooden Books series. This has since been licensed by Walker & Co., NYC and last time he checked, it had been translated into at least half a dozen languages.

Since 2000, he's been an Honorary Fellow in Exeter University's mathematics department. During this time, as well as having done a bit of teaching work, he initiated and has been since been curating the online Number Theory and Physics Archive and the related (but more popularly accessible) site Inexplicable Secrets of Creation, a project which naturally led to the idea of this series of books.

In 2004 he, together with playwright and mythogeographer Phil Smith, received the first arts commission from the British Association for the Advancement of Science in its 173-year history. This took place in Exeter and was a suprisingly well-received combination of a local history walk, a mathematics lecture and a piece of experimental street theatre, based on the fascinating life and work of local 19th century mathematical visionary William Clifford.

More recently, he's been showing up at various festivals (The Secret Garden Party, Big Green Gathering, etc.) as his alter ego, the (even more) eccentric mathematician Professor Raphael Appleblossom, doing "freestyle walkabout mathematics performance lecturing", honing his ability to communicate challenging mathematical ideas to highly non-mathematical (yet curious) members of the public.

In March 2010, he participated in an experimental collaborative venture with sculptor Conrad Shawcross at Urbanomic Studio, a centre of interdisciplinary arts/science/philosophy research in Falmouth, UK.

from http://www.secretsofcreation.com/auth... ...more

Combine Editions
Matthew Watkins’s books

Average rating: 4.2 · 659 ratings · 53 reviews · 23 distinct works

	Useful Mathematical & Physical Formulae by Matthew Watkins, Matt Tweed (Illustrator) 3.92 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 2001 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mystery of the Prime Numbers: Secrets of Creation v. 1 by Matthew Watkins, Matt Tweed (Illustrator) 4.43 avg rating — 7 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Secrets of Creation: The Mystery of the Prime Numbers by Matthew Watkins, Matt Tweed (Illustrator) 3.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	FORMULAS UTILES DE MATEMATICAS Y FISICA 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Secrets of Creation: Prime Numbers, Quantum Physics and a Journey to the Centre of Your Mind (Volume 3) by Matthew Watkins, Matt Tweed (Illustrator) 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nepostradatelné matematické a fyzikální vzorce 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Secrets of Creation: The Enigma of the Spiral Waves (Volume 2) by Matthew Watkins, Matt Tweed (Illustrator) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Enigma of Sprial Waves (Secrets of Creation #2) by Matthew Watkins, Matt Tweed (Illustrator) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Matthew Watkins really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	You Are Here: The biography of a moment (an accelerating history of Canterbury from the Big Bang to noon August 15th 2014) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars