ATM People • Bill Brookes
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We have just received the sad news that Bill Brookes died on 23 Nov 2005.
Bill Brookes was one of the early active members of ATM in the fifties. I vividly recall his review of a mathematical film in the first issue of MT in 1955. This inspired me to start showing such films to my own classes at the time. It is sadly fitting that only a few weeks ago he wrote a short piece for the final issue: ‘Fifty Years Later’.
Bill was a dynamic influence in ATM, both in its early years and later. He was both a speaker and a listener. You would be mesmerised and inspired by his voice, and you would watch what you said when you had his attentive ear. Images jostle in my mind of him in a classroom, at weekend gatherings, at conferences. But I will just select one sentence from a piece of writing that he circulated after one of these meetings in the early sixties:
“To be somewhere completely void is to be in a situation which is completely closed; to be somewhere empty but for one thing is to be in an open situation.”
Bill always sought that one thing. And those who knew and worked with him had a glimpse of it as well.
Dick Tahta
On first acquaintance (in the late 60s) Bill could be quite daunting. He could be fierce in putting forward his ideas and did not suffer fools gladly, but on closer acquaintance one realised this was part of his enthusiasm and underneath he was always kind and considerate. He could be very verbose with the ideas tumbling out at a rate few of us could manage. If challenged however, he would give a concise and intelligible account of the ideas he had been exploring.
He had great insight and would make a brief comment about something one said or did that was not elaborated or explained which, after reflection, would change one’s own thinking. This was typical of Bill - he would share his insight in a way that left you to work out the implications for yourself.
Like all outstanding teachers it is impossible to judge the breadth of his influence. He taught and influenced many teachers who in their turn have influenced their pupils.
Bill was unique and those of us privileged to have known him over a large number of years, and to have worked with him, have been greatly enriched by the experience.
David Sturgess
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