Vicky Neale

Summary

Victoria Ruth Neale (March 1984 – 3 May 2023)[2] was a British mathematician and writer. She was Whitehead Lecturer at Oxford's Mathematical Institute and Supernumerary Fellow at Balliol College.[3][4] Her research specialty was number theory. The author of the 2017 book Closing the Gap: The Quest to Understand Prime Numbers,[5][6] she was interviewed on several BBC radio programs as a mathematics expert.[7][8] In addition, she wrote for The Conversation and The Guardian.[9][10] Her other educational and outreach activities included lecturing at the PROMYS Europe high-school program[11] and helping to organize the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad.[12]

Vicky Neale
Born
Victoria Ruth Neale[1][2]

March 1984 (1984-03)[2]
Died (aged 39)
Oxford, England, UK[2]
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Alma mater
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis Bracket quadratics as asymptotic bases for the natural numbers  (2011)
Doctoral advisorBen Green
Websitepeople.maths.ox.ac.uk/neale/

Neale was born in 1984.[13] She obtained her PhD in 2011 from the University of Cambridge. Her thesis work, supervised by Ben Joseph Green, concerned Waring's problem.[3][1] She then taught at Cambridge while being Director of Studies in mathematics at Murray Edwards College,[12][14] before moving to Oxford in the summer of 2014.[15]

Neale died on 3 May 2023, at the age of 39.[16] She had been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in 2021.[17]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Vicky Neale at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  2. ^ a b c d e O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Vicky Neale", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  3. ^ a b Neale, Vicky (3 August 2018). "Homepage". Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Speakers and Panellists - ACME". Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    "BCME 9 Plenary Speakers". British Congress of Mathematics Education. 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  5. ^ Neale, Vicky (2017). Closing the Gap: The Quest to Understand Prime Numbers. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198788287. OCLC 1030559953.
  6. ^ Reviews of Closing the Gap include the following:
    • Hunacek, Mark (12 February 2018). "Closing the Gap | Mathematical Association of America". Mathematical Association of America. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    • Freiberger, Marianne (12 December 2017). "'Closing the gap'". Plus Magazine. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    • Bultheel, Adhemar (February 2018). "Review: Closing the Gap". European Mathematical Society. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
    • Kalaydzhieva, Nikoleta; Porritt, Sam (28 June 2018). "Closing the Gap". Chalkdust. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    • Fried, Michael N. (3 July 2018). "Prime Numbers, Mathematical Pencils, and Massive Collaboration". Mathematical Thinking and Learning. 20 (3): 248–250. doi:10.1080/10986065.2018.1483932. ISSN 1098-6065.
  7. ^ Among her appearances are the following:
    • "Fermat's Last Theorem, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    • "Numbers Numbers Everywhere, Series 10, The Infinite Monkey Cage - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    • "e, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    • "Vicky Neale on the Mathematics of Beauty, A History of Ideas - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    • "Maths: Alex Bellos, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Serafina Cuomo, Vicky Neale, Free Thinking - BBC Radio 3". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  8. ^ She is also quoted as a mathematics expert in, for example,
    • Flyn, Cal (10 July 2017). "What Makes Maths Beautiful?". New Humanist. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
    • Sample, Ian (21 November 2016). "Magic numbers: can maths equations be beautiful?". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  9. ^ Neale, Vicky (17 February 2017). "Mathematics is beautiful (no, really)". The Conversation. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  10. ^ Neale, Vicky (26 November 2015). "Solving for Xmas: how to make mathematical Christmas cards". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Clay Mathematics Institute. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Principal Faculty | PROMYS-Europe: Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists". promys-europe.org. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  13. ^ Vicky Neale 1984–2023, Balliol College
  14. ^ Gowers, Timothy (11 January 2014). "Introduction to Cambridge IA Analysis I 2014". Gowers' Weblog. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Balliol Maths: a plurality of women". Floreat Domus 2015. Balliol College. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Vicky Neale | Mathematical Institute". Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. 4 May 2023. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  17. ^ Dr Vicky Neale (1984-2023), London Mathematical Society