Writing
I love writing about maths, whether it's explaining how to solve a problem, showing how a method applies in real life, or exploring historical mathematical figures.
You can commission me to write books and articles: please email colin@colinbeveridge.co.uk and we'll figure it out!
Books
I wrote several titles in the For Dummies series, as well as the popular science books Cracking Mathematics and The Maths Behind...
Cracking Mathematics
"It really is worth popping into your bag to lighten your next wait at the station."
- How did logarithms come about?
- Is Alice In Wonderland really about mathematics?
- And why was a Swedish mathematician presented with a goose live on national TV?
Cracking Mathematics, an unreliable history of maths, answers all of these questions (and plenty more besides) – from the birth of counting to the heroes of modern mathematics.
The Maths Behind...
“The book manages to walk the line between being readable and demonstrating how [the maths] works very well”
- How does the rollercoaster stay on the track while upside-down?
- How does DNA testing work?
- … and how do penguins stay warm?
The Maths Behind... takes a look at the mathematics behind the everyday, from sports to politics, from computers to shopping.
Articles
A selection of my favourite pieces of writing:
- How to reboot your interest in maths - The Observer (you may need to click "Show")
- Crossnumbers and Cross Products at Chalkdust Magazine (“a magazine for the mathematically curious”).
- Too Good to be Truchet at Chalkdust Magazine
- The Super Subtraction Feat at The Aperiodical (“a meeting-place for people who already know they like maths and would like to know more”).
- News in Brie(f) at The Aperiodical, the only instance of the editors using the tag “Please make it stop”.
- Axes to Axes at The Aperiodical.
- The Maths Behind the Hundred-Year Flood, for the Maths Teacher Training Scholarship blog.
- My reddit AMA.
- A review of Brian Hayes’s Foolproof at The Mathematical Intelligencer
Contact Me
If you'd like to discuss a project or have any questions, you can reach me by email: colin@colinbeveridge.co.uk