Colin Pask

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Colin Pask (born 1943) [1] is a British mathematical physicist and science writer.

Contents

Life

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

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

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

Pask has written some works of popularisation:

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References

  1. ↑ "British National Bibliography, Pask, Colin, 1943-, The British Library". bnb.data.bl.uk.
  2. ↑ "Emeritus Professor Colin Pask". research.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Colin Pask". unsw.adfa.edu.au.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Journal of the Optical Society of America: Optics and image science. A. The Society. 1986. p. 1106.
  5. ↑ "Colin Pask - The Mathematics Genealogy Project". genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu.
  6. ↑ "Colin Pask". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Stavenga, Doekele G.; Hardie, Roger C. (6 December 2012). Facets of Vision. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 40. ISBN   978-3-642-74082-4.
  9. ↑ Adams, M. J. (1981). An Introduction to Optical Waveguides. Wiley. p. 330. ISBN   978-0-471-27969-3.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Pask, Colin (3 September 2013). Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece. Prometheus Books. ISBN   978-1-61614-746-4.
  12. ↑ 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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