David Acheson (mathematician)

{{Infobox scientist

| name = David Acheson

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1946}}

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| alma_mater = King's College London
University of East Anglia

| thesis_title = The Magnetohydrodynamics of Rotating Fluids

| thesis_year = 1971

| doctoral_advisor = Michael Barker Glauert

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| work_institution = University of Oxford

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David John Acheson (born 1946) is a British applied mathematician at Jesus College, Oxford.{{cite web|title=Dr David Acheson|url=http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/fellows-and-staff/fellows/dr-david-acheson|publisher=Jesus College, Oxford|access-date=23 September 2014}}

Career

He was educated at Highgate School, King's College London (BSc Mathematics and Physics, 1967) and the University of East Anglia (PhD, 1971).{{cite web|title=David Acheson|url=http://academic.jesus.ox.ac.uk/dacheson/about.html|publisher=Jesus College, Oxford|access-date=23 September 2014}} He was appointed a Fellow in Mathematics at Jesus College, Oxford in 1977 and became an Emeritus Fellow in 2008. He served as president of the Mathematical Association from 2010 to 2011. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of East Anglia in 2013.{{cite web|title=UEA to honour notable alumni at its 50th anniversary graduation|url=https://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2013/May/hon-grads|publisher=University of East Anglia|access-date=23 September 2014}}

Research

His early research was on geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics, beginning with the discovery in 1972 of a magnetic 'field gradient' instability in rotating fluids.{{Cite web|url=http://academic.jesus.ox.ac.uk/dacheson/about.html|title = About David Acheson}} In 1976, he discovered the first examples of wave over-reflection (i.e. reflection coefficient greater than unity) in a stable system. In 1978 his research focused on magnetic fields and differential rotation in stars, with new results on magnetic buoyancy, the Taylor instability, Goldreich-Schubert instability, and magnetorotational instability. In 1992 he discovered the 'upside-down pendulums theorem' (which is very loosely connected with the Indian Rope Trick).

Publications

=Books=

{{cite book|author=David J. Acheson|title=Elementary Fluid Dynamics|year=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198596790}}
{{cite book|author=David J. Acheson|title=From Calculus to Chaos: An Introduction to Dynamics|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198500773}}
{{cite book|author=David J. Acheson|title=1089 and All That: A Journey into Mathematics|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199590025}}
{{cite book|author=David J. Acheson|title=The Calculus Story: A Mathematical Adventure|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198804543}}
{{cite book|author=David J. Acheson|title=The Wonder Book of Geometry: A Mathematical Story|year=2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198846383}}
{{cite book|author=David J. Acheson|title=The Spirit of Mathematics: Algebra and all that|year=2023|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0192845085}}