There are articles about renowned mathematicians and about the history of
some key ideas in maths. The importance of mathematics in the modern world
is illustrated by applications in engineering, technology, astronomy,
music and the visual arts.
Reading mathematics is best done in small steps. The articles are
all short, and they can be read in arbitrary order. Some articles
are purely descriptive. Others go deeper and are at a more advanced
mathematical level.
Approximately half the articles have appeared in the author's regular
column That's Maths in The Irish Times.
Others have been posted to
his mathematical blog, thatsmaths.com.
All articles have been fully
revised for this book. This is the second collection under the rubric
That's Maths. The first collection, published in 2016, was very
favourably reviewed.
The author has succeeded in bringing out the amazing beauty of mathematics
and its utility in so many areas of our lives. The book should be
appreciated by anyone with an interest in mathematics and science. In
particular, teachers of these subjects, at both school and university
level, should find a wealth of material to supplement and invigorate
their classes.
1968 with a first class honours in
mathematical science. The following year he was awarded an M.Sc. by UCD.
Much of Peter's career was spent with the Irish Meteorological Service,
where he worked developing models for weather prediction. In 1982 he
was awarded a PhD from Trinity College Dublin, for research in dynamical
meteorology. He later became Head of Research and then Deputy Directer
of Met Eireann.
Peter carried out extensive research on the development of computer
weather forecasting. In 2006 he completed a monograph,
The Emergence of
Numerical Weather Prediction: Richardson's Dream, which was published
by Cambridge University Press.
Peter moved to UCD in 2004 as Professor of Meteorology in the School
of Mathematics. He is now an emeritus professor in the School.
Since retiring he has written extensively about mathematics.
His first mathematical collection, That's Maths: The Mathematical
Magic in Everyday Life, was published by Gill Books in 2016.
He writes a regular mathematical column in The Irish Times and maintains
a mathematical blog, thatsmaths.com.
His professional website is at
https://maths.ucd.ie/~plynch/
Peter is a keen walker. Over a thirteen-year period, he completed a walk
around the coastal counties of Ireland. This is described in his book
Rambling Round Ireland: A Commodius Vicus of Recirculation
, published
in 2010 by The Liffey Press.
Peter is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.
