The Source of All Wisdom: Robin Chapman's Home Page

I'm a senior lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Exeter. My mathematical interests include number theory, algebra, combinatorics and problem solving. Welcome to my website which is of the old school: no pop-ups, animations or frames, just a couple of pictures and an unrivalled selection of useful links.

Photo of me

This is how I looked on 20th March 1999 when I had more hair than I have now.


All Exeter sudents should read this report by Citizens' Advice on the housing market. Yes, really!


I am on the editorial boards of the Journal of Combinatorics and Number Theory and the Online Journal of Analytic Combinatorics.


I was a contender in the 2005 series of the BBC quiz programme Mastermind. My first-round match, where my specialist subject was The Life and Music of Igor Stravinsky, was broadcast on Tuesday 20th September. I scored twenty-eight points, winning the heat by a margin of one point.

My second-round match, where my specialist subject was One Foot in the Grave, was broadcast on Tuesday 18th October. I scored twenty-two points, winning the match (and qualifying for the final) by an all-too-narrow margin of one pass.

The final, where my specialist subject was The Science Fiction Novels of Philip K. Dick, was broadcast on Tuesday 8th November. Alas my luck deserted me, and I scored a paltry seventeen points putting me in sixth place (out of six). It was great fun while it lasted, and I reckon I have just achieved my quota of fifteen minutes of fame!

BBC2 started repeating the 2005 series of Mastermind on 18 April 2013. My first-round match was repeated at 1.30 pm on Friday 7 June 2013, my second-round match was repeated at 2.30 pm on Thursday 7 July 2013 and the final was repeated at 1.30 pm on Monday 22 July 2013. I don't think anyone saw these!


This is my teaching page where you'll find details of courses, undergraduate projects etc. And this is my list of publications.


Here is my evil determinant problem.


I have the following manuscripts available:
Here are some of my favourite links:

A question: what was Fermat's Number?

Photo of Fermat's Number


Robin Chapman
Department of Mathematics
University of Exeter
Exeter, EX4 4QF, UK
01392 723971
r.j.chapman@ex.ac.uk
24th January 2017