Gunnar Backstrom

"I grew up in the north of Sweden, where I also went to school. At the age of 18 I moved south to enter the University of Uppsala, where I majored in mathematics and physics. There I obtained a PhD in physics and finally became a tenured lecturer. After a few years I was appointed first professor of physics at the northern University of Umea.

Writing articles and books has been one of my main passions for fifty years. Two decades ago I started to write a series of academic textbooks, based on new ideas about the use of the personal computer to promote understanding of mathematics and science. I am convinced that the advent of the PC will cause an educational revolution. I disagree with the majority of my colleagues, however, who think that the PC will just provide new illustrations for conventional lectures - or permit us to store such lectures. Its potential reaches far beyond that modest goal. The timing for this new phase of my authorship was determined by two factors: I was able to free up more time for writing, and powerful computational software became available.

During the last five years, after being retired from the university, I started to take an interest in physical therapy. I first translated an American book and then started on my own in similar fields."