I am a scientist living and working in Hobart, Tasmania, mostly doing mathematical computing. I’ve undertaken many marine science voyages including two with ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions), one to Macquarie Island and one to the Australian base at Casey on the Antarctic Mainland. The book and many of the characters in it were drawn from those experiences. The encounter with the zoologist and the dreams were also real events that affected me deeply. I was driven to try to understand these numinous experiences, which were beyond the scope of my scientific training.
I released the first edition around 1998, and was pleasantly surprised by the reaction. I expected disdain from my scientific peers, but on the whole they responded positively and with enthusiasm. I’ve always been amazed at how often the manuscript was passed on, and I came to hear from people who had received copies second or even third hand. Several of these were deeply rewarding. One was the offer of an endorsement from the Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee who had been given a copy by a reader. This for a first time writer was most gratifying. Another was from the artist Lisa Falk, whose exquisite art can be seen at her web page. Lisa honoured the book by dedicating her picture Is’land to it, from a recent exhibition ‘Drawing out the Spirit’, and also kindly gave me a print, which now hangs proudly in our house.
The manuscript has evolved slightly these past six years, partly in response to readers’ comments and partly as I have discovered new material. It’s stable now and I’m reluctant to make any more alterations for fear of destroying whatever made the earlier versions appealing. It’s a touchy question actually, how much can one fiddle with a manuscript after it has received endorsements?
I did try to find a publisher, but with no luck. It doesn’t fit neatly into any established category, and is probably too short at 27000 words. Most of the reward from writing has come from the reaction of readers, and I’m hopeful that providing it on the web might also elicit some positive responses. If, however, you are a publisher, and are interested in publishing it, then I would be pleased to hear from you also (although not if you are just a front for a Vanity Press—I’ve been there!).
These past six years have also been dominated by the birth of our daughter and that has consumed (pleasurably) whatever spare time I had before and so there has been no progression of any of the ideas in the book. I’m intrigued by the possibility that there are two touch points (polar symmetry) between algebra and geometry and have some ideas that I’d like to pursue one day.
I hope you enjoy reading this book.
Tim Osborn
Hobart, October 2005