Alex Bellos
Writer, broadcaster, football lover and self-proclaimed maths geek, Alex Bellos’ colourful career includes writing several acclaimed books and making short films. He’ll be talking about his new book, Alex’s Adventures in Numberland. He’ll also be joined by Lana Citron to present ‘The Power of X’ an amusing take on maths and kissing, with Lana talking about the passion of the kiss and Alex calming her down with some maths.
Alex Bellos has worked in journalism for a decade and a half. He lived in Rio de Janeiro for five years, working for The Guardian, where he became known as the paper’s unusually numerate foreign correspondent. His time in South America inspired his first book, Futebol: the Brazilian Way of Life (2003), – “a book about contemporary Brazil viewed through the lens of football”. It was shortlisted for the WH Smith Sports Book of the Year, as well as the British Book Awards’ Sports Book of the Year (2004 ) and Book of The Year in the National Sporting Club book awards (2003). Three years later, he ghost-wrote the number one bestseller, Pelé: The Autobiography. In addition to his writing success, Alex has also made a number of short films for the BBC, More 4 and Al Jazeera.
After a successful career in journalism Alex decided to put his degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford into action and returned to maths. “I flew around the world – to India, Japan, the US and Europe – in order to see maths in action. It was a lot of fun, and I met lots of amazing people.”
www.alexbellos.com
www.twitter.com/alexbellos
“Alex’s enthusiasm for mathematics shines from every page. His exploration of Numberland deserves to become an instant classic, and may well do so. If you want to get anyone interested in mathematics, yourself included, then this engaging series of encounters is just what you need.”
Ian Stewart, author of Professor Stewart’s Hoard of Mathematical Treasures
“An irresistible blend of many things at once: a fan’s history, a travelogue and an ethnographic study of the sport that has become a looking glass for Brazilian identity.”
Time Out New York review of Futebol: the Brazilian Way of Life
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