Paul J. Nahin


Paul J. Nahin is an American electrical engineer, author, and former college professor. He has written over 20 books on topics in physics and mathematics.

Biography

Born in California, Nahin graduated from Brea Olinda High School in 1958, and thereafter received a B.S. from Stanford University in 1962, an M.S. from the California Institute of Technology in 1963, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine, in 1972, all in electrical engineering.
Nahin thereafter taught at Harvey Mudd College, the University of Virginia, and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He retired in 2004 from his position as professor of electrical engineering at the University of New Hampshire, becoming a professor emeritus.
As an author, Nahin's publications include biographies of Oliver Heaviside, George Boole, and Claude Shannon, books on mathematical concepts such as Euler's formula, the Riemann zeta function, and the imaginary unit, and a number of books on the physics and philosophical puzzles of time travel. His book Chases and Escapes has been rated as essential for inclusion in undergraduate mathematics libraries by The Basic Library List Committee of the Mathematical Association of America.
In 1979, Nahin received the first Harry Rowe Mimno writing award, from the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society. He received the 2017 Chandler Davis Prize for Excellence in Expository Writing in Mathematics.

Works

Inside Interesting Integrals ; The Logician and the Engineer: How George Boole and Claude Shannon Created the Information Age ;