Marcus du Sautoy
Marcus du Sautoy is a British mathematician, author, and broadcaster who holds the Simonyi Professorship for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford — a chair previously held by Richard Dawkins. Born on August 26, 1965, in London, du Sautoy studied mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford, and has spent his career both advancing research in group theory and number theory and communicating the beauty and power of mathematics to audiences far beyond the academy. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010 for his services to science.
His first popular book, The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics (2003), explored the Riemann Hypothesis — one of the most famous unsolved problems in mathematics — through the lens of the history of prime number theory. The book made an abstract and technical subject compelling through narrative, tracing the contributions of mathematicians from Gauss and Riemann to the present day. It became an international bestseller and established du Sautoy as one of Britain’s leading science communicators.
His subsequent books have ranged widely across mathematics and its intersections with art, creativity, and cognition. Finding Moonshine: A Mathematician’s Journey Through Symmetry (2008) wove together personal memoir, history of mathematics, and an exploration of symmetry group theory. The Num8er My5teries (2010) presented five of the great unsolved problems in mathematics. The Creativity Code: Art and Innovation in the Age of AI (2019) explored whether artificial intelligence can truly be creative, examining music, visual art, and literature through the lens of mathematics and computation.
Du Sautoy has presented numerous television and radio programs for the BBC, hosted mathematics masterclasses for young people, and has been a tireless advocate for mathematics education. His career demonstrates that rigorous, professional mathematics and genuine public engagement are not merely compatible but mutually reinforcing.