Robyn Arianrhod, left, with the other 2025 NSW History Award winners, defied her own expectations to win a major history award with a book about maths.
By Catherine Watson
BASS Coast writer and mathematician Robyn Arianrhod has pulled off a surprise win at the 2025 NSW History Awards, taking out the General History category with her book Vector: A surprising story of space, time, and mathematical transformation.
BASS Coast writer and mathematician Robyn Arianrhod has pulled off a surprise win at the 2025 NSW History Awards, taking out the General History category with her book Vector: A surprising story of space, time, and mathematical transformation.
Photo: State Library of NSW The announcement was made on Friday at the NSW State Library, where Arianrhod walked away with a trophy and a $15,000 cheque.
“I was thrilled to be shortlisted but I really thought there was no chance of winning with a history of mathematics,” she admitted. She had even considered skipping the ceremony until friends insisted she go.
Lucky she did. The judges praised Vector as a rare work that bridges the worlds of history and mathematics.
Arianrhod said she was delighted that the judges recognised her attempt to use human stories as a way into the fundamentals of mathematics.
“Telling the story of how the foundational concepts underpinning today’s science and technology were created makes it easier for readers to approach the maths,” she said in her acceptance speech.
“I was thrilled to be shortlisted but I really thought there was no chance of winning with a history of mathematics,” she admitted. She had even considered skipping the ceremony until friends insisted she go.
Lucky she did. The judges praised Vector as a rare work that bridges the worlds of history and mathematics.
Arianrhod said she was delighted that the judges recognised her attempt to use human stories as a way into the fundamentals of mathematics.
“Telling the story of how the foundational concepts underpinning today’s science and technology were created makes it easier for readers to approach the maths,” she said in her acceptance speech.
“Few books can claim to be able to engage historians in mathematics and mathematicians in history, but Robyn Arianrhod’s Vector is just such a rare book. It takes extremely complex concepts from mathematics and the natural sciences and turns them into a fascinating and highly personal journey through the history of the thinkers who made the hallmark inventions of the modern world possible.” |
Vector was published in 2024 by UNSW Press and the University of Chicago Press. It has already won a 2025 Choice Outstanding Academic Titles Award and is being translated into Chinese and Korean.
This year’s NSW History Awards, administered by the State Library of NSW in association with Create NSW, celebrate excellence across six categories: military history, young people’s history, digital history, NSW community and regional history, general history, and Australian history.
Senior judge Professor Matthew Fitzpatrick said the winners reflected the strength of the historian’s craft in Australia.
“Their works combine rigorous research with vivid narratives that animate the past to make it palpable. Together, they remind us that the past is not merely prologue, but constantly with us in the present, shaping our attitudes and actions.”
This year’s NSW History Awards, administered by the State Library of NSW in association with Create NSW, celebrate excellence across six categories: military history, young people’s history, digital history, NSW community and regional history, general history, and Australian history.
Senior judge Professor Matthew Fitzpatrick said the winners reflected the strength of the historian’s craft in Australia.
“Their works combine rigorous research with vivid narratives that animate the past to make it palpable. Together, they remind us that the past is not merely prologue, but constantly with us in the present, shaping our attitudes and actions.”
The universal language
July 13, 2024 - Robyn Arianrhod’s new book celebrates the power of signs and symbols. The Post asked our resident mathematician to tell us more – in simple terms.
July 13, 2024 - Robyn Arianrhod’s new book celebrates the power of signs and symbols. The Post asked our resident mathematician to tell us more – in simple terms.