... it is exactly the kind of thing that I would have enjoyed tremendously and found extremely illuminating in my younger days—in fact, I think this is still the case ... Sir Roger Penrose 

That's quite an accolade for 'Secrets of Creation' - a trilogy which brings the wonderful world of numbers - and particularly prime numbers - to life in an exciting way, with engaging illustrations by Matt Tweed, simple language and barely a single equation in sight. No wonder we're proud to include Matthew Watkins' book in the Liberalis offering.

Leon Conrad caught up with Matthew to find out more about the trilogy.

LC: What is it about the 'Secrets of Creation' trilogy that makes it ideal for reluctant mathematicians?

MW: There are no x's or y's, no equations or formulas. Instead, I've worked closely with a skillful and imaginative illustrator to devise an innovative, entirely visual approach to explaining some surprisingly deep mathematical ideas. A lot of non-mathematicians I speak to admit to having had a horrible time with maths at school, but often add as an afterthought that they quite liked geometry. This includes my mother, who's a visual artist. Through years of engaging with a diverse range of people, I've come to realise that despite our many similarities as human beings, our minds can work in wildly different ways. I'm very comfortable manipulating abstract symbols and working with complex notation systems, the stuff of nightmares for some people. But if I try to draw a portrait of someone's face, it looks awkward and lifeless, whereas to someone else, drawing a lifelike portrait could be an effortless task. I've realised that I have an extremely non-visual kind of mind, and it seems that people with minds like mine have dominated the development of conventional maths education, and benefited the most from it.

A new visual language is needed if we want to communicate deep mathematical ideas to a wider audience, and that's what I've tried to do.

I think the fact that my social life has been almost entirely separate from my academic life may also have helped. I don't generally socialise with people in the mathematical sciences, and so in trying to explain what I do to my friends, I've had to develop a toolkit of techniques which make people feel comfortable, stop them from panicking (as they often do when confronted with anything mathematical) and speak to them in a way they can relate to. The narrative style of the trilogy has been made intentionally gentle and reassuring in order to avoid losing readers in the way that conventional school maths lessons tend to lose most children subjected to them.

LC: Tell us about the illustrations

MW: I worked with Matt Tweed back in '99 on a small reference book of maths and physics formulas. I'd been commissioned to put the book together as part of a series, and the publisher put me in touch with Matt as a possible illustrator, which was quite funny as we already knew each other! I knew him as a musician (part of an extraordinary band of early 90's raggle-taggle psychedelic eco-minstrels called The Spacegoats) but also admired the artwork he used to do for the band's albums, posters, etc. - like illuminated manuscripts. I would never have thought to ask him to illustrate a "boring" maths/physics book, but he enthusiastically transformed it into something unique with his quirky, universally lovable cartoon images. So, when I was putting Secrets of Creation together, he was the only illustrator I could imagine rising to the task. He was more than happy to do so, and has done a magnificent job - a huge amount of work, as there are many hundreds of illustrations! We've got an excellent working relationship, a kind of symbiosis: I describe what I have in mind for an illustration while he listens and doodles, then he quizzes me thoroughly about the concepts underlying the picture - he really wants to understand the material, not just deliver an acceptable illustration (he's illustrated books on chemistry and astronomy too, as part of his ongoing self-education in just-about-everything). The amazing thing is that he often comes back to me with a finished illustration which explains the concept in question back to me in a way which leaves me understanding it better than I did originally!

Like the Secrets of Creation title, the illustrations are also perhaps something of a double-edged sword. Most people seem to love them, find them, disarming and helpful in overcoming their fear of the dreaded mathematical subject matter. There are a few, though, who are put off the books because they find the imagery too naive or childlike or something - I don't know. I suspect those are the people who tend to take themselves far too seriously, and I'm not too concerned about losing their potential custom. You can't please everyone!

Matt's still very much involved with music, plays multiple instruments, tours with various bands and is also a very talented and sought-after sound engineer and producer, having engineered/produced dozens of albums since the millennium. A busy man!

Secrets of Creation, by Matthew Watkins, illustrated by Matt Tweed, published by Liberalis Books is available from on line and independent bookstores now.

http://www.liberalisbooks.com/authors/matthew-raymond-watkins

Categories:

0 comments on this article

This thread has been closed from taking new comments.