Timandra Harkness is a writer, broadcaster and presenter.
Her book Big Data: does size matter? published by Bloomsbury Sigma in 2016, came out in an updated paperback edition in June 2017.
Timandra is a regular on BBC Radio, writing and presenting BBC Radio 4’s FutureProofing series, and documentaries including Data, Data Everywhere, Personality Politics, and Supersense Me for BBC Radio 4, and Are You A Numbers Person? for the BBC World Service Why Factor series. She was also resident reporter on all 8 seasons of social psychology series The Human Zoo.
Since winning the Independent newspaper’s column-writing competition, she has written for many publications including the Telegraph, Guardian, Sunday Times, BBC Focus magazine, WIRED, Men’s Health and Significance (the journal of the Royal Statistical Society).
Timandra chairs and speaks at public events for clients including Cheltenham Science Festival, the Royal Society, the British Council, the Royal Geographical Society, the RSA, the Institute of Ideas, the Wellcome Collection and many others.
After performing improvised & stand up comedy, & touring with a tented circus, she formed the first comedy science double-act in the UK with neuroscientist Dr. Helen Pilcher. Since then she has written and performed scientific and mathematical comedy from Adelaide (Australia) to Pittsburgh PA.
In 2010 she co-wrote & performed Your Days Are Numbered: The Maths of Death, with stand-up mathematician Matt Parker (supported by the Wellcome Trust). They performed the show to average audiences of 100.3 and 4 star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe, then toured it in the UK and Australia.
Timandra’s science comedy since then includes cabaret, gameshows, and solo live show Brainsex (also supported by the Wellcome Trust).
Timandra has a BA in Film and Drama with Art & Art History, and a BSc in Mathematics & Statistics.
She is a Visiting Fellow (Knowledge Exchange) in Big Data, Information Rights and Public Engagement with the Centre for Information Rights at the University of Winchester.
