Antonia J. Jones
{{short description|British mathematician and computer scientist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Antonia Jane Jones
| birth_place = 1943
| death_date = {{Death year and age|2010|1943}}
| workplaces = Cardiff University
| alma_mater = University of Reading
University of Cambridge
| thesis_title = Sums of roots of unity and cyclic overlattices
| thesis_url = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/489008067
| thesis_year = 1968
| website = [http://users.cs.cf.ac.uk/O.F.Rana/Antonia.J.Jones/ Antonia J. Jones]
}}
Antonia Jane Jones (1943 – 2010) was a British mathematician and computer scientist. Her research considered number theory and computer science.
Early life and education
Jones was born in 1943 in Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital. She was the first member of her family to attend university. Jones contracted polio as a child and lost both of her legs at the age of ten.{{Cite web|title=Antonia Jones Obituary (2011) - St. Augustine Record|url=https://www.legacy.com/amp/obituaries/staugustine/150288587|access-date=2021-01-31|website=www.legacy.com|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=Buckley|first=Anne|date=1984-07-01|title=Women in Electrical Engineering Education|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/002072098402100302|journal=The International Journal of Electrical Engineering & Education|language=en|volume=21|issue=3|pages=197–212|doi=10.1177/002072098402100302|s2cid=111931564 |issn=0020-7209}} Jones attended the University of Reading, where she studied mathematics and physics and graduated both with first class honours.{{Cite web|title=Antonia J Jones|url=http://users.cs.cf.ac.uk/O.F.Rana/Antonia.J.Jones/|access-date=2021-01-31|website=users.cs.cf.ac.uk}} She was a doctoral student in number theory at the University of Cambridge, where she completed her PhD in 1969. Jones joined the University of Nottingham after earning her doctorate, before joining Imperial College London as a Senior Lecturer. She spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Study, after which she joined the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder.{{Cite web|date=2019-12-09|title=Antonia Jane Jones - Scholars {{!}} Institute for Advanced Study|url=https://www.ias.edu/scholars/antonia-jane-jones|access-date=2021-01-31|website=www.ias.edu|language=en}}
Research and career
Jones returned to the United Kingdom in the 1970s, where she became a lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her interest switched from mathematics to computing and she started to explore acoustic pattern recognition. Whilst Jones struggled with the early computers, when technology became more accessible for people with physical disabilities she launched her own firm creating random access video controllers.
In 1983 Jones joined Brunel University London at a lecturer in Information Technology. Jones later served as Professor of Evolutionary and Neural Computing at Cardiff University.{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Christopher|date=|title=Athena SWAN Bronze department award application|url =https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/845809/CardiffUniversityComputerScienceInformaticsAthenaSwanBronzeApplication.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016104357/https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/845809/CardiffUniversityComputerScienceInformaticsAthenaSwanBronzeApplication.pdf |archive-date=2019-10-16 |access-date=2021-01-31|website=Cardiff}} She exposed various security loopholes in banking infrastructure, including identifying significant potential fraud at HSBC.{{Cite web|date=2006-08-10|title=Security flaw leaves 3m HSBC online accounts open to fraud|url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/10/news.accounts|access-date=2021-01-31|website=the Guardian|language=en}}{{Cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Bobbie|date=2006-08-11|title=HSBC knew about security loophole in online banking|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/11/news.money|access-date=2021-01-31|issn=0261-3077}}
Alongside her scientific research, Jones was involved with science communication and public engagement. She served as an electronic data consultant on the 1986 film Rocinante.{{Cite web|title=Rocinante (1986)|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b79250a77|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321134258/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b79250a77|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 March 2017|access-date=2021-01-31|website=BFI|language=en}} She contributed to the 1998 British Science Association Festival of Science.{{Cite web|title=British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1998: Mathematical Sciences|url=http://www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/~rab/baas.html|access-date=2021-01-31|website=www.maths.qmul.ac.uk}} In 2007, Jones retired from Cardiff University.
Selected publications
- {{Cite Q|Q33256604}}
- {{Cite Q|Q33228706}}
- {{Cite journal|last1=Stefánsson|first1=Adoalbjörn|last2=Končar|first2=N.|last3=Jones|first3=Antonia J.|date=1997-09-01|title=A note on the Gamma test|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01413858|journal=Neural Computing & Applications|language=en|volume=5|issue=3|pages=131–133|doi=10.1007/BF01413858|s2cid=11348191 |issn=1433-3058}}
- {{Cite book|last=Jones, A. J. (Antonia Jane), 1943-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44654208|title=Game theory : mathematical models of conflict|date=2000|publisher=Horwood Pub|isbn=1-898563-14-4|location=Chichester [England]|oclc=44654208}}
Personal life
Antonia Jones spent many years with her partner Barbara Quinn at their shared farmhouse in the Brecon Beacons. Upon her retirement in 2007, Jones moved to St. Augustine, Florida. Jones died on 23 December 2010. She is survived by Quinn and her sister Jenny Carrl.
References
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Category:British mathematicians
Category:Academics of Cardiff University
Category:Alumni of the University of Reading
Category:British number theorists