The Honourable R. J. Wilson | |
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Born | 1943 United Kingdom |
Citizenship | United Kingdom |
Fields | Graph Theory |
Institutions | Open University, Keble College, Oxford, Gresham College |
Alma mater | University College School, Hampstead, London University of Oxford (Balliol College) University of Pennsylvania |
Robin James Wilson (born December 1943) is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Open University, a Stipendiary Lecturer at Pembroke College, Oxford[1] and, as of 2006[update], Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, where he has also been a visiting professor. On occasion, he guest teaches at Colorado College.
From January 1999 to September 2003 Robin Wilson was editor-in-chief of the European Mathematical Society Newsletter.[2]
He is the son of Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He has two daughters: Catherine and Jennifer.
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Professor Wilson's academic interests lie in graph theory, particularly in colouring problems, e.g. the four colour problem, and algebraic properties of graphs.
He also researches the history of mathematics, particularly British mathematics and mathematics in the 17th century and the period 1860 to 1940 and the history of graph theory and combinatorics.
Due to his collaboration on a 1977 paper with the noted Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, Wilson has an Erdős number of 1.
In July 2008 he published a study of the mathematical work of Lewis Carroll, the creator of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass — Lewis Carroll in Numberland: His Fantastical Mathematical Logical Life.[3]
He has strong interests in music, including the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, and is the co-author (with Frederic Lloyd) of Gilbert and Sullivan: The Official D'Oyly Carte Picture History.[4] In 2007 he was a guest on Private Passions, the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3.[5]
Wilson has written or edited about thirty books to date, including popular books on sudoku and the Four Color Theorem:
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