New holder of Simonyi chair

[Professor Yaffle]

Stepping into the shoes of Richard Dawkins could be intimidating for some: not so for Marcus du Sautoy. Yesterday, the University of Oxford announced that the mathematician would take up its prestigious Simonyi professorship for the public understanding of science, the post vacated last month by the biologist Dawkins after more than a decade.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/29/science-oxford-dawkins-sautoy-maths

Any comments? I don't know much about him myself.

[Ivor the Engineer]

I've been watching "The story of maths" on BBC4. He was the presenter. Seems a nice enough chap, though quite different to Dawkins.

[leon_heller]

He's often on BBC radio, when a tame mathematician is required. I liked his maths series.

Leon

[malbui]

He's often on BBC radio, when a tame mathematician is required. I liked his maths series.


Yeah, for example he's cropped up on Bragg's In Our Time series a few times. Seems to have wide-ranging interests and be a good communicator.

[Thing]

I find him so-so to meh, but I guess I'm not his target audience. I'm just glad the job didn't go to Greenfield or Sykes.