| Last modified 29 May, 2010 |
Frequently Asked Questions
General
What is the best email address to reach you with? You seem to use more than one.
Use tmafink@gmail.com. fink@london-institute.org and thomas.fink@curie.fr are forwarded to this one; tmf20@cam.ac.uk is defunct.
Why didn't you respond to my email?
Probably for no good reason, please send it again. Sometimes I lose track of emails in my inbox. However, since April 2010 I have taken a different approach to email, applying Inbox Zero and five.sentenc.es.
Academic
Are you taking on Ph.D. students and postdocs?
I am happy to consider Ph.D. students and postdocs with a degree in physics or mathematics.
What is your current position?
I am a Charge de Recherche in the French CNRS (Curie Institute UMR 144 and U900) and a Fellow at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
What is the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences (LIMS)?
LIMS is a non-profit institute set up by theorists to carry out research in the mathematical sciences. Because its staff have no teaching or administrative duties, they are able to focus full-time on their research.
What is the Curie Institute? What is the CNRS?
The Curie Institute is one of the leading biological and biophysical research centres in the world. It is a direct outgrowth of Marie Curie's Radium Institute. The CNRS is the equivalent to the combined Research Councils in the UK, or the National Science Foundation in the US. My position is similar to a UK EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship, but it is permanent.
What is your association with the University of Cambridge?
I was a graduate student and Junior Fellow at Cambridge from 1994 to 2003. I now visit about once a month.
Popular
How can I obtain a copy of The Man's Book?
The second edition of The Man's Book is available in the UK. The third edition of The Man's Book is available in the US (it has 16 more sections and 35 more figures).
How can I obtain a copy of The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie?
As of writing this, the 85 Ways is sold out in the English language and, I believe, in most foreign languages. The only way to get a copy is by buying one secondhand (and these have become relatively expensive). I do not have spare copies.
I have discovered a new tie knot that is not listed in The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie and I want to tell you about it.
This book is based on two mathematics papers I wrote. It is not simply an enumeration of possible tie knots; it is also a proof that there are no other knots. Before contacting me, check to see if the knot is listed at the bottom of this page.