Robin Wilson (mathematician)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Robin James Wilson (born 5 December 1943) is an emeritus professor in the Department of Mathematics at the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
, having previously been Head of the Pure Mathematics Department and Dean of the Faculty. He was a Stipendiary Lecturer at
Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...
and, , Professor of Geometry at
Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...
, London, where he has also been a
visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
. On occasion, he guest-teaches at
Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...
in the United States. He is also a long standing fellow of
Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
. Professor Wilson is a son of former British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
and his wife,
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
.


Early life and education

Wilson was born in 1943 to the politician
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
, who later became
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, and his wife the poet Mary Wilson (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Baldwin). He has a younger brother, Giles, who in his 50s gave up a career as a teacher to be a train driver. Wilson attended
University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...
in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
, North London. He achieved a BA First Class Honours in Mathematics from
Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, an MA from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, a PhD from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
(1965–1968) and a BA First Class Honours in Humanities with Music from the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
. In a ''Guardian'' interview in 2008, Wilson spoke of the fact he grew up known to everyone primarily as a son of the Labour Party
leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
and Prime Minister Harold Wilson: "I hated the attention and I still dislike being introduced as Harold Wilson's son. I feel uncomfortable talking about it to strangers even now."


Mathematics career

Wilson's academic interests lie in
graph theory In mathematics, graph theory is the study of ''graphs'', which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of '' vertices'' (also called ''nodes'' or ''points'') which are conne ...
, particularly in colouring problems, e.g. the four colour problem, and algebraic properties of graphs. He also researches the
history of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments ...
, particularly British mathematics and mathematics in the 17th century and the period 1860 to 1940, and the history of
graph theory In mathematics, graph theory is the study of ''graphs'', which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of '' vertices'' (also called ''nodes'' or ''points'') which are conne ...
and
combinatorics Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and an end in obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many appl ...
. In 1974, he won the
Lester R. Ford Award Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name * Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic * Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from Wisc ...
from the
Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...
for his expository article ''An introduction to matroid theory''. Due to his collaboration on a 1977 paper with the Hungarian mathematician
Paul Erdős Paul Erdős ( hu, Erdős Pál ; 26 March 1913 – 20 September 1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. He was one of the most prolific mathematicians and producers of mathematical conjectures of the 20th century. pursued and proposed problems in ...
, Wilson has an
Erdős number The Erdős number () describes the "collaborative distance" between mathematician Paul Erdős and another person, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers. The same principle has been applied in other fields where a particular individual ...
of 1. In July 2008, he published a study of the mathematical work of
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
, the creator of ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...
'' and ''
Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
'' — ''Lewis Carroll in Numberland: His Fantastical Mathematical Logical Life'' (Allen Lane, 2008. ). From January 1999 to September 2003, Wilson was editor-in-chief of the
European Mathematical Society The European Mathematical Society (EMS) is a European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe. Its members are different mathematical societies in Europe, academic institutions and individual mathematicians. The current ...
Newsletter. He is past President of the
British Society for the History of Mathematics The British Society for the History of Mathematics (BSHM) was founded in 1971 to promote research into the history of mathematics at all levels and to further the use of the history of mathematics in education. The BSHM is concerned with all peri ...
.


Other interests

He has strong interests in music, including the operas of
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
, and is the co-author (with
Frederic Lloyd Frederic Lloyd, OBE (1 July 1918 – 27 July 1995), was an English theatre manager. Most notably, Lloyd was the General Manager of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1951 until its closure in 1982. Biography Lloyd was born into an ecclesiastica ...
) of ''Gilbert and Sullivan: The Official D'Oyly Carte Picture History''. In 2007, he was a guest on ''
Private Passions ''Private Passions'' is a weekly music discussion programme that has been running since 15 April 1995 on BBC Radio 3, presented by the composer Michael Berkeley. The production was formerly made by Classic Arts Productions, a British radio an ...
'', the biographical music discussion programme on
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
.


Personal life

Wilson is married and has twin daughters.


Publications

Wilson has written or edited about thirty books, including popular books on
sudoku Sudoku (; ja, 数独, sūdoku, digit-single; originally called Number Place) is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row ...
and the
Four Color Theorem In mathematics, the four color theorem, or the four color map theorem, states that no more than four colors are required to color the regions of any map so that no two adjacent regions have the same color. ''Adjacent'' means that two regions sh ...
: *''Oxford's Savilian Professors of Geometry: The First 400 Years'' (editor), Oxford University Press, 2022: *''Number Theory: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2020: *''
The Turing Guide ''The Turing Guide'', written by Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson, and others and published in 2017, is a book about the work and life of the British mathematician, philosopher, and early computer scientist, Alan Turin ...
'' (with
Jack Copeland Brian John Copeland (born 1950) is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and author of books on the computing pioneer Alan Turing. Education Copeland was educated at the University of Oxford, obta ...
,
Jonathan Bowen Jonathan P. Bowen FBCS FRSA (born 1956) is a British computer scientist and an Emeritus Professor at London South Bank University, where he headed the Centre for Applied Formal Methods. Prof. Bowen is also the Chairman of Museophile Limited ...
, Mark Sprevak, et al.),
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2017: (hardcover), (paperback) *''Combinatorics: A Very Short Introduction,'' Oxford University Press, 2016: *''Combinatorics: Ancient & Modern'' (with John Watkins), Oxford University Press, 2013: *''The Great Mathematicians'' (with Raymond Flood), Arcturus Publishing Ltd, 2011: *''Lewis Carroll in Numberland: His Fantastical Mathematical Logical Life'', Allen Lane, 2008: *''Hidden Word Sudoku'', Infinite Ideas Limited 2005: *''How to Solve Sudoku'', Infinite Ideas Limited 2005: *''Sherlock Holmes in Babylon and Other Tales of Mathematical History'' (co-edited with Marlow Anderson and
Victor J. Katz Victor Joseph Katz (born 31 December 1942, Philadelphia) is an American mathematician, historian of mathematics, and teacher known for using the history of mathematics in teaching mathematics. Biography Katz received in 1963 from Princeton Unive ...
), The Mathematical Association of America, 2004: *''Mathematics and Music: From Pythagoras to Fractals'' (co-edited with John Fauvel & Raymond Flood), Oxford University Press, 2003: *''Four Colours Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solved'', Allen Lane (Penguin), 2002: *''Stamping through Mathematics'', Springer, 2001: *''Oxford Figures: 800 Years of the Mathematical Sciences'' (with John Fauvel & Raymond Flood), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000: *''Graphs and Applications: An Introductory Approach'' (with Joan Aldous), Springer, 2000: *''Mathematical Conversations: Selections from the Mathematical Intelligencer'' (with J. Gray), Springer, 2000: *''An Atlas of Graphs'' (with Ronald Read), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998: (paperback edition, 2002: ) *''
Graph Theory, 1736–1936 ''Graph Theory, 1736–1936'' is a book in the history of mathematics on graph theory. It focuses on the foundational documents of the field, beginning with the 1736 paper of Leonhard Euler on the Seven Bridges of Königsberg and ending with the f ...
'' (with Norman L. Biggs and Keith Lloyd), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976:


References


External links


Robin Wilson's Page at the Open UniversityRobin Wilson's entry in the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing at the Open UniversityLectures by Robin Wilson
at Gresham College
Robin Wilson's entry at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Robin 1943 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) British people of English descent People educated at University College School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of the Open University University of Pennsylvania alumni Fellows of Keble College, Oxford Professors of Gresham College British historians of mathematics 20th-century British mathematicians 21st-century British mathematicians Graph theorists Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Robin Sons of life peers