I graduated from the University of St. Andrews in 1955, intending to be a research chemist, but my interest in Electronics took me to the English Electric Valve Co. for ten years, and in 1966 I changed career to become a lecturer in Physics and Electronics. I started writing at around that time, with the first book (Understanding Electronic Components) published in 1972. I had programmed in Fortran in 1964, but my real interest in computing was roused during a visit to San Francisco in 1978 when I saw a TRS-80, and bought one for word-processing and indexing my books. By 1984, I was writing full-time, particularly for Granada Books, who were at that time the premier publishers of books on computing in the UK.

Now, a few years on, I still complete a few books each year dealing with computing or electronics. My computing books are based on the UK/International version of software, not the US versions that are covered by imported books. With my advancing years, I no longer attempt to work solo, and I am greatly indebted to John Dunton who has been my writing partner for over a year and who I hope will take over the titles when I can no longer contribute.