Colin Pask Explained

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

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:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: British National Bibliography, Pask, Colin, 1943-, The British Library . bnb.data.bl.uk.
  2. Web site: Emeritus Professor Colin Pask. research.unsw.edu.au. en. 2019-01-29.
  3. Web site: Colin Pask . unsw.adfa.edu.au . en.
  4. Book: Journal of the Optical Society of America: Optics and image science. A . 1986 . The Society . 1106 . en.
  5. Web site: Colin Pask - The Mathematics Genealogy Project . genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu.
  6. Web site: Colin Pask. Penguin Random House Canada. English. 2019-01-29.
  7. McIntyre . P. . Pask . C. . The Stiles–Crawford effect: a theoretical revisit . Journal of Modern Optics . 1 February 2013 . 60 . 4 . 266–283 . 10.1080/09500340.2013.770575 . 2013JMOp...60..266M . 121098614 . 0950-0340.
  8. Book: Stavenga . Doekele G. . Hardie . Roger C. . Facets of Vision . 6 December 2012 . Springer Science & Business Media . 978-3-642-74082-4 . 40 . en.
  9. Book: Adams . M. J. . An Introduction to Optical Waveguides . 1981 . Wiley . 978-0-471-27969-3 . 330 . en.
  10. Book: Pask . Colin . Math for the Frightened: Facing Scary Symbols and Everything Else that Freaks You Out about Mathematics . 2011 . Prometheus Books . 978-1-61614-421-0 . en.
  11. Book: Pask . Colin . Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece . 3 September 2013 . Prometheus Books . 978-1-61614-746-4 . en.
  12. Book: Pask . Colin . Great Calculations: A Surprising Look Behind 50 Scientific Inquiries . 7 July 2015 . Prometheus Books . 978-1-63388-029-0 . en.

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