Stewart, Ian

Ian Stewart FRS was born the 24th of September 1945 in Folkestone, Kent, England. His father was a messenger for at a bank leading Ian to grow up in a very modest lifestyle (Ian Wikipedia). As a kid, Ian loved finding and working on mathematics puzzles from the magazine, Scientific American. He collected all of the articles that he found and ended up having such a large collection that it started to consume his bedroom (Shepherd). Because of his early love for these math puzzles, as a student in the British school system, he excelled in mathematics. When he was in sixth form, the equivalent of the last two years of high school in England, his teacher noticed just how proficient his mathematical skills were. To test his skills further, his teacher had him take a college level exam without any preparation. He placed first among the other students taking the test, which led his teacher to promote him enrolling at Cambridge (Ian Wikipedia).

Stewart attended undergraduate studies at Churchill College of Cambridge where he studied and obtained a degree in mathematics. After obtaining his BA in mathematics he attended the University of Warwick in Coventry. While there, he worked as an editor of a successful magazine called Manifold for math undergraduates (Shepherd). He preformed his doctoral work under Brian Hartley while at Warwick and in 1969 obtained his Ph.D. Upon completion, he was offered a teaching position at Warwick where he has been teaching ever since. In 1970, he married Avril who he had met at a party while at Warwick. She was training as a nurse at the time. They currently have two sons together and have been married for 43 years (Ian Wikipedia).

Stewart was able to achieve his childhood dream when he became a columnist for the magazine he loved so much as a kid, Scientific America. He took over the “Mathematical Recreations” column and he continued on the tradition of presenting math puzzles for readers, an activity he still does today on Twitter (Shepherd). After he had accumulated enough puzzles and writing experience, Stewart started his extremely successful career in book writing.

Stewart has written many different types of books ranging from academic textbooks to sci-fi books. In total, he has written around 70 novel-style books. His science fiction career has been very successful with one of his most famous books being Wheelers. It is a science fiction story about mankind’s first contact with an alien intelligence where the humans must interact with the Blimps in order to save Earth from an asteroid headed their way (Wheelers). This novel was Stewart’s first time working with reproductive biologist Dr. Jack Cohen. The two have worked a lot with friend and fantasy author Terry Pratchett on his series Discworld, a series about “a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle”. The series has received many accolades and has sold over 70 million copies. Stewart and Cohen have taken a break, though, from the Discworld series as Pratchett is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Pratchett has said, though, he wishes his daughter to continue the series (Discworld). .

On top of his science fiction career, Stewart has written many mathematical works. He has published over 140 papers on mathematical research topics including chaos, effects of symmetry on dynamics, fractal applications, and many more. He continued to work with Cohen on a series of scientific papers on coupled oscillations and the symmetries of animal gaits (Ian Popular). Stewart is one of the most famous and loved writers when it comes to math and makes an effort to make math fun for those of all ages. As mentioned, Stewart has written a multitude of scientific papers and novels all of which have led him to become a notable person in the field of mathematics.

Although the University of Warwick is where Stewart has been a professor since the day they offered him the position, he has also taken time to be a guest lecturer and visiting professor at many different distinguished universities all around the world. Besides teaching in England, he has also taught in Germany, New Zealand, and in the United States at the University of Connecticut and the University of Houston (Ian Popular). All of his teachings, novels, scientific publications, and general likeability have made Ian Stewart one of the famous mathematicians of this era and he has received a few awards because of it.

As Stewart set out to popularize mathematics and science in general, his efforts did not go unnoticed. In 1995, he received the Michael Faraday Medal by the Royal Society of London for “excellence in communicating science to UK audiences” (Michael). In 2001, the Royal Society then elected him as a Fellow of the Royal Society, an achievement given to those who have made “a substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including, mathematics, engineering science and medical science” (Election).

The work he has put in throughout the years to make math enjoyable for everyone has continued today. As mentioned before, he consistently will post word puzzles on his twitter account for followers to answer. Ian is currently a professor emeritus at the University of Warwick and still enjoys writing fun books about math and getting people interested in mathematics.




Works Cited

"Discworld." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 July 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld>.

"Election." The Royal Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/election/>.

"Ian Stewart." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Stewart_(mathematician)#See_also>.

"Ian Stewart." Popular Science. N.p., 5 June 2007. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.popularscience.co.uk/biographies/stewart.htm>.

"Michael Faraday Prize." The Royal Society: Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://royalsociety.org/awards/michael-faraday-prize/>.

Shepherd, Jessica. "The magic numbers." The Guardian. N.p., 8 June 2009. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/jun/09/ian-stewart-academicexperts-mathematics>.

"Wheelers." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 May 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelers_(novel)>.