Colin Beveridge (1977-) is the author of several maths books in the For Dummies series, as well as Cracking Mathematics, an unreliable history of maths. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of St Andrews and worked for several years on NASA’s Living With A Star project at Montana State University, where he came up with an equation which is named after him. It’s used to help save the world from being destroyed by solar flares. So far so good. He became tired of the glamour of academia and returned to the UK in 2008 to concentrate on helping students come to terms with maths and show that not all mathematicians are boring nerds; some are exciting, relatively well-adjusted nerds. When he’s not looking after his sons, he writes, consults, gives talks and tutors. He lives in Weymouth, Dorset with a young family and has nothing to prove.