Page 428 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

About the Authors 423

After graduating from LSU, she became a lecturer in Computer Science at
the University of Waikato (Te Whare Wananga o Waikato) in Hamilton, New
Zealand. One of the most appealing aspects of the position is the very large
amount of wool available throughout New Zealand, and the number of talented
members of the local Spinners and Weavers Guild (who have taught her to spin
lumpy yarn). She particularly appreciates the support of her colleagues in her
studies of crochet and computing. Despite the distance from her home in
Louisiana, she remains a Southern belle.

John Christopher Turner
John Turner was born in 1928, in Goole, Yorkshire, England. He is married,
with five children and eight grandchildren to date.
His career, after obtaining an Honours degree in Mathematics at Leeds
University in 1954, included positions as Scientific Officer in Armaments Re-
search in Kent, and College and University lectureships in Kenya, Sierra Leone,
Huddersfield and Leeds. In 1970 he became Reader in Mathematics and Statis-
tics in the University of Waikato, New Zealand. His 23 years of service there
included a four-year spell as Foundation Dean of the School of Computing and
Mathematical Sciences; he retired in 1994.
He served a term as President of the New Zealand Mathematical Society;
and three terms as President of the New Zealand Federation of Classical Guitar
Societies.
His academic achievements include the invention and development, with
W. Rogers, of a statistical computing language (STATUS) in the 1970s; pub-
lication of several mathematics textbooks; numerous papers on number-tree
graphs and related number theories; and, with Georg Schaake since 1987, an
extensive series of books and pamphlets on Schaake's new theories of braiding
processes.
His interests in Knots began in 1978, when he started a study of oper-
ations on knot-graphs; this work led to a D.Phil. degree in 1984. The main
discovery was a powerful twist-spectrum invariant-a polynomial which was
able to detect amphicheirality and distinguish handedness; but unfortunately
it only worked with alternating knots.
John Turner's other interests lie mainly in music. He plays 'cello for the
Waikato Symphony Orchestra; and piano in a jazz duo. A fun retirement
hobby is juggling with balls and clubs, which he enjoys with his son-in-law
William Rogers.