Dr. Tristan Needham is a mathematician and author of the high-acclaimed book, “Visual Complex Analysis,” was published by Oxford University Press and has been translated into several languages, including Chinese. His second major work, “Visual Differential Geometry and Forms,” will be published in 2020 by Princeton University Press. In both of these books, he adapts mathematical ideas first developed by Isaac Newton to provide entirely novel ways of understanding and proving fundamental areas of mathematics through the use of highly innovative pictures.
Dr. Needham was born in Oxford, the son of the renowned British anthropologist, Rodney Needham. He was educated at schools in Oxford. He received his doctorate from Oxford University under the supervision of the famous mathematician and physicist Sir Roger Penrose. For his research, he applied Einstein's general Theory of Relativity to study certain aspects of black holes.
During his time in Oxford, he developed innovative techniques for teaching mathematics one-on-one to students who needed extra assistance in understanding the subject.
He joined the University of San Francisco in 1989. He was Chairman of the Mathematics Department and Associate Dean for Science. He is curently a Professor of Mathematics. He especially enjoys teaching his many Chinese students, who rate him very highly as a teacher.
