About

My passion is to make technical subjects accessible to everyone. Without meaning to be coy, I have always had to work a little bit harder than the average scientist to understand my subject but always with the belief that the knowledge is within my grasp. In recent years I have found that the extra steps that I have needed to take can be useful to others. If technical subjects are broken up into small chunks with real life examples, then they can be made accessible to a wider audience.

My first book was about databases and small business. My second (co-authored with my husband, Howard Jennings) is due out early 2022: it brings the description of the Enigma machine and related codebreaking during the Second World War to the level of the nontechnical reader. I have found that books about the Enigma machine generally gloss over the mathematics or assume a high level of understanding.

I have always liked numbers and I studied maths to degree level. I was never top of my class even at school, but maths was always the subject I felt most in tune with. After postgraduate study I worked as a research scientist in computation for several years at Manchester University. I have also worked for the third sector and have been working from home in Chester, UK, since 2014.

I am also passionate about my food. In my spare time I love to travel, particularly to places where the food is good. Spain, Italy and France are favourites. I also ride a tandem with my husband, usually to country pubs that have great food! And I enjoy cooking good food too.