W. Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Andrew Robinson
	Robinson speaking at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, in 2014
Born	William Andrew Coulthard Robinson; 14 March 1957 (age 69); England
Education	Dragon School; Eton College; University College, Oxford; School of Oriental and African Studies;
Occupations	Writer, journalist
Parent(s)	Neville Robinson (father); Daphne Coulthard (mother)
Relatives	Vicky Bowman (sister)
	Writing career
Years active	1987–present
Notable works	Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye (1989), The Art of Rabindranath Tagore (1989), The Man Who Deciphered Linear B (2002), The Last Man Who Knew Everything (2006), The Story of Measurement (2007), Writing and Script (2009), The Scientists: An Epic of Discovery (2012), Einstein on the Run (2019), Einstein in Oxford (2024)
Website	www.andrew-robinson.org

William Andrew Coulthard Robinson (born 14 March 1957) is a British author, journalist and former newspaper editor.

Andrew Robinson was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College (where he was a King's Scholar), University College, Oxford (where he read chemistry), and finally the School of Oriental and African Studies (in London). He is the son of Neville Robinson, an Oxford physicist, and Daphne Robinson.

Robinson first visited India in 1975, and has been involved with the country's culture ever since. He has authored many books and articles, including biographical works on Jean-Francois Champollion, Albert Einstein, Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore, Michael Ventris, and Thomas Young. Until 2006, he was the literary editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement. He has also been a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge. He is based in London and is now a full-time writer. He writes articles for journals and magazines, including History Today,, Nature, New Scientist, Science, Science Focus, and The Lancet.

Robinson is a member of the British Museum Friends Advisory Council.

Bibliography

Books

Robinson has authored and edited the following books:

Mehta, Ashvin & Andrew Robinson (1987). The Coasts of India. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0500241301.
Maharaja: The Spectacular Heritage of Princely India with Sumio Uchiyama. Thames & Hudson (1988). ISBN 0-500-54136-1.
Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. André Deutsch (1989). ISBN 0-233-98473-9.
The Art of Rabindranath Tagore. André Deutsch (1989). ISBN 0-233-98359-7.
The Shape of the World with Simon Berthon. George Philip (1991). ISBN 0-540-01229-7.
Earth Shock: Hurricanes, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tornadoes & Other Forces of Nature. Thames & Hudson (1993). ISBN 0-500-01579-1.
Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-minded Man with Krishna Dutta. St. Martin's Press (1995). ISBN 0-312-14030-4. Also: Bloomsbury (1997). ISBN 0-7475-3086-6.
Rabindranath Tagore: An Anthology with Krishna Dutta. St. Martin's Press (1997). ISBN 0-312-16973-6. Also: Griffin (1998). ISBN 0-312-20079-X.
Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore with Krishna Dutta. Cambridge University Press (1997). ISBN 0-521-59018-3.
The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs and Pictograms. (1995); Thames & Hudson (2000). ISBN 0-500-28156-4.
The Man Who Deciphered Linear B: The Story of Michael Ventris. Thames & Hudson (2002). ISBN 0-500-51077-6.
Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Great Undeciphered Scripts. McGraw-Hill (2002). ISBN 0-07-135743-2.
Satyajit Ray, The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker. I.B. Tauris (2003). ISBN 1-86064-965-3.
Satyajit Ray: A Vision of Cinema with Nemai Ghosh. I.B. Tauris (2005). ISBN 1-84511-074-9.
Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity. Palazzo Editions (2005). ISBN 0-9545103-4-8.
The Last Man Who Knew Everything: Thomas Young, The Anonymous Polymath Who Proved Newton Wrong, Explained How We See, Cured the Sick, and Deciphered the Rosetta Stone, Among Other Feats of Genius. Pi Press (2006). ISBN 0-13-134304-1.
The Story of Measurement. Thames & Hudson (2007). ISBN 978-0-500-51367-5.
Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press (2009). ISBN 978-0-19-956778-2.
Genius: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press (2011). ISBN 978-0-19-959440-5.
Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-Francois Champollion. Thames & Hudson (2012). ISBN 978-0199914999. Oxford University Press (2012). ISBN 978-0500051719.
The Scientists: An Epic of Discovery (editor). Thames & Hudson (2012). ISBN 978-0-500-25191-1.
India: A Short History. Thames & Hudson (2014). ISBN 978-0-500-25199-7.
The Indus: Lost Civilizations. Reaktion Books (2015). ISBN 978-1-780-23502-8.
Earth-Shattering Events: Earthquakes, Nations and Civilization. Thames & Hudson (2016). ISBN 978-0500518595.
Einstein on the Run: How Britain Saved the World's Greatest Scientist. Yale University Press (2019). ISBN 978-0300234763.
Einstein in Oxford. Bodleian Library Publishing (2024). ISBN 978-1-85124-638-0.

Book reviews

Year	Review article	Work(s) reviewed
2017	Robinson, Andrew (September 2017). "The Ancients had stars in their eyes". Reviews. History Today. 67 (9): 97.	Jones, Alexander. A Portable Cosmos: Revealing the Anyikythera Mechanism, scientific wonder of the ancient world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

References

1 2 Twaite, Mark (2009). "Interview with Andrew Robinson". The Book Depository. UK.
1 2 "Andrew Robinson (1)". LibraryThing. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
1 2 "Books by Andrew Robinson". Alibris. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
↑ Jones, Anna (23 October 2009). "Cambridge Festival of Ideas podcast". News. UK: Wolfson College, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
↑ "History Today Search – Andrew Robinson". History Today. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
↑ "Search – Author: Andrew Robinson". Nature. Springer Nature. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
↑ "Andrew Robinson". New Scientist. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
↑ "Robinson, Andrew". Science. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
↑ "Andrew Robinson". BBC Science Focus. BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
↑ "Robinson, Andrew". The Lancet. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
↑ "Advisory Council". The British Museum. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
↑ Andrew Robinson, Mughal dance of the seven veils that wasn't and other tales unravelled from a rich and royal material past. Times Higher Education Supplement, 26 November 1999.
↑ Gardiner, Juliet (1 October 2009). "Maharaja: The Spectacular Heritage of Princely India". History Today. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
↑ Salman Rushdie, Homage to Satyajit Ray. London Review of Books, 12(5):9, 8 March 1990.
↑ Andrew Robinson, Foreign fields with inspiring corners. Times Higher Education Supplement, 5 October 2001.
↑ Andrew Robinson, No crystal ball for natural disasters. Nature, 463:160, 14 January 2010. doi:10.1038/463160a.
↑ All shook up. Physics World, 2 January 2007.
↑ C. A. Bayly, Under Western eyes^{[dead link]}. Times Literary Supplement, 1997.
↑ Andrew Robinson, Andrew Robinson on the story of writing. The Times, 29 September 2007.
↑ Torsten Meissen, Some mysteries undeciphered^{[dead link]}. Times Literary Supplement, 2002.
↑ Jane Jakeman, Man Who Deciphered Linear B, by Andrew Robinson — The decoding of a fascinating human story^{[dead link]}, The Independent, 24 April 2002.
↑ Andrew Robinson, Silent letters from the past. Times Higher Education Supplement, 24 May 2002.
↑ James McConnachie, Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts by Andrew Robinson. The Sunday Times, 8 March 2009.
↑ Andrew Robinson, Decoding antiquity: Eight scripts that still can't be read. New Scientist, 27 May 2009.
↑ Andrew Robinson, Ray of light still shines in the dark — The author Andrew Robinson recalls his meetings with the film director Satyajit Ray, one of the giants of world cinema. The Times, 18 August 2005.
↑ Snowman, Daniel (5 November 2015). "Review: Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity – An unlikely case of cerebral celebrity". The Jewish Chronicle.
↑ Robinson, Andrew (14 April 2007). "Einstein on and off the soapbox". New Scientist. No. 2599.
↑ P. D. Smith, Reluctant polymath, book review, The Guardian, 20 January 2007.
↑ Michael Sims, Book Review: Scientist Young, international man of mystery, Los Angeles Times, 7 February 2007.
↑ David Weatherall, Thomas Young: a medical polymath. The Lancet, 369(9560):455–456, 10 February 2007. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60216-5.
↑ Stuart Hannabuss, The Story of Measurement — Review^{[link removed]}, Library Review, 57(7):557–558, 2008. Emerald Group Publishing.
↑ Jens Vigen, Summer bookshelf — The story of measurement Archived 18 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine. CERN Courier, 8 July 2008.
↑ Eileen Magnello, Plus or Minus^{[dead link]}. Times Literary Supplement, 13 June 2008.
↑ Steven Poole, Writing and Script by Andrew Robinson. The Guardian, 19 September 2009.
↑ Greg Neale, "Book reviews: Writing and Script". Oxford Today, 22(2):37, 2010.
↑ Smith, P. D. (11 March 2011). "Review of Genius: A Very Short Introduction by Andrew Robinson". The Guardian.
↑ Morton, Brian (12 May 2012). "Cracking The Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life Of Jean-François Champollion, By Andrew Robinson". The Independent. Retrieved 6 June 2012.

External links

[interview-1] 1 2 Twaite, Mark (2009). "Interview with Andrew Robinson". The Book Depository. UK.

[librarything-2] 1 2 "Andrew Robinson (1)". LibraryThing. Retrieved 27 July 2020.

[alibris-3] 1 2 "Books by Andrew Robinson". Alibris. Retrieved 27 July 2020.

[wolfson-4] Jones, Anna (23 October 2009). "Cambridge Festival of Ideas podcast". News. UK: Wolfson College, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2010.

[history-today-5] "History Today Search – Andrew Robinson". History Today. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

[nature-6] "Search – Author: Andrew Robinson". Nature. Springer Nature. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

[new-scientist-7] "Andrew Robinson". New Scientist. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

[science-8] "Robinson, Andrew". Science. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

[science-focus-9] "Andrew Robinson". BBC Science Focus. BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

[the-lancet-10] "Robinson, Andrew". The Lancet. Retrieved 21 June 2026.

[britishmuseum-11] "Advisory Council". The British Museum. Retrieved 1 October 2025.

[12] Andrew Robinson, Mughal dance of the seven veils that wasn't and other tales unravelled from a rich and royal material past. Times Higher Education Supplement, 26 November 1999.

[13] Gardiner, Juliet (1 October 2009). "Maharaja: The Spectacular Heritage of Princely India". History Today. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012 – via HighBeam Research.

[14] Salman Rushdie, Homage to Satyajit Ray. London Review of Books, 12(5):9, 8 March 1990.

[15] Andrew Robinson, Foreign fields with inspiring corners. Times Higher Education Supplement, 5 October 2001.

[16] Andrew Robinson, No crystal ball for natural disasters. Nature, 463:160, 14 January 2010. doi:10.1038/463160a.

[17] All shook up. Physics World, 2 January 2007.

[18] C. A. Bayly, Under Western eyes^{[dead link]}. Times Literary Supplement, 1997.

[19] Andrew Robinson, Andrew Robinson on the story of writing. The Times, 29 September 2007.

[20] Torsten Meissen, Some mysteries undeciphered^{[dead link]}. Times Literary Supplement, 2002.

[21] Jane Jakeman, Man Who Deciphered Linear B, by Andrew Robinson — The decoding of a fascinating human story^{[dead link]}, The Independent, 24 April 2002.

[22] Andrew Robinson, Silent letters from the past. Times Higher Education Supplement, 24 May 2002.

[23] James McConnachie, Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts by Andrew Robinson. The Sunday Times, 8 March 2009.

[24] Andrew Robinson, Decoding antiquity: Eight scripts that still can't be read. New Scientist, 27 May 2009.

[25] Andrew Robinson, Ray of light still shines in the dark — The author Andrew Robinson recalls his meetings with the film director Satyajit Ray, one of the giants of world cinema. The Times, 18 August 2005.

[26] Snowman, Daniel (5 November 2015). "Review: Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity – An unlikely case of cerebral celebrity". The Jewish Chronicle.

[27] Robinson, Andrew (14 April 2007). "Einstein on and off the soapbox". New Scientist. No. 2599.

[28] P. D. Smith, Reluctant polymath, book review, The Guardian, 20 January 2007.

[29] Michael Sims, Book Review: Scientist Young, international man of mystery, Los Angeles Times, 7 February 2007.

[30] David Weatherall, Thomas Young: a medical polymath. The Lancet, 369(9560):455–456, 10 February 2007. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60216-5.

[31] Stuart Hannabuss, The Story of Measurement — Review^{[link removed]}, Library Review, 57(7):557–558, 2008. Emerald Group Publishing.

[32] Jens Vigen, Summer bookshelf — The story of measurement Archived 18 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine. CERN Courier, 8 July 2008.

[33] Eileen Magnello, Plus or Minus^{[dead link]}. Times Literary Supplement, 13 June 2008.

[34] Steven Poole, Writing and Script by Andrew Robinson. The Guardian, 19 September 2009.

[35] Greg Neale, "Book reviews: Writing and Script". Oxford Today, 22(2):37, 2010.

[36] Smith, P. D. (11 March 2011). "Review of Genius: A Very Short Introduction by Andrew Robinson". The Guardian.

[37] Morton, Brian (12 May 2012). "Cracking The Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life Of Jean-François Champollion, By Andrew Robinson". The Independent. Retrieved 6 June 2012.

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Andrew Robinson
Robinson speaking at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, in 2014
Born	William Andrew Coulthard Robinson (1957-03-14) 14 March 1957 (age 69) England
Education	Dragon School Eton College University College, Oxford School of Oriental and African Studies
Occupations	Writer, journalist
Parent(s)	Neville Robinson (father) Daphne Coulthard (mother)
Relatives	Vicky Bowman (sister)
Writing career
Years active	1987–present
Notable works	Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye (1989), The Art of Rabindranath Tagore (1989), The Man Who Deciphered Linear B (2002), The Last Man Who Knew Everything (2006), The Story of Measurement (2007), Writing and Script (2009), The Scientists: An Epic of Discovery (2012), Einstein on the Run (2019), Einstein in Oxford (2024)

Website	www.andrew-robinson.org