The Problem With Short Biographies
What I Did Before I Was A 'Mathematician'
27 July 2026
“Please can you send a short biography.”
It’s a request I usually receive if I’m speaking at a conference or appearing on a podcast, and it's a reminder that we like to sum people up in a sentence.
People like clarity and simplicity, and I usually describe myself as a maths author and speaker. I tend not to describe myself as a ‘mathematician’, but that’s typically how other people describe me, and it’s a label that generally does the job for much of the work that I do.
However, a single sentence never tells the full story, let alone a single word. I have to remind myself that for most of the 1990s, maths was something I hardly touched.
During that decade, my main area of interest was creativity: what is it, and how can it be encouraged? I ran regular workshops and training courses, and was often invited to facilitate brainstorming and problem-solving meetings. My main clients came from two very different professions: graphic designers and senior civil servants (yes, really).
I learned a lot from those experiences, and always wanted to capture my thoughts in a book. Finally, after several aborted attempts, I came up with a version I was happy with, and ten years ago my book Any Ideas? was published.
Never heard of it? That’s probably because it got lost in a market flooded with books about creativity. I think it only sold a few hundred copies.
Creativity remains a hot topic, especially with the growth of AI. It’s also increasingly associated with maths education, where curiosity, exploration and flexible problem-solving are recognised as essential parts of the subject.
If you want my personal take on creativity, I notice that you can pick up a second-hand copy of Any Ideas? on Amazon for £1.20.
But please note: it is not a maths book.
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