Roger Burrows

Roger Burrows (born 19 July 1945, Evesham, Worcestershire) is a British writer working in the fields of geometry, design, and architectural form; a developer of interactive learning products; and an inventor of various technologies such as Questron, the interactive book technology published by Price/Stern/Sloan Publishers Inc., Los Angeles with Random House, New York during the 1980s, also the Magnix printed magnet technology for Sandvik Innovations LLC,with applications from 2000, the Booktronics solid state technologies for Readers Digest during the 1990s. He designed the Nancy Stetson studio in Boulder Colorado - a building that has an octagonal floor plan:^[1]

He has published numerous books including: "3D Thinking" to be published by Thames and Hudson Spring 2017 that traces the development of visual logic from Neolithic times through the river cultures to the present and possible future. The "Altair Designs" book series co-authored with Dr. Ensor Holiday and published by Wooden Books (UK) and Bloomsbury (USA),^[2] "The Crystal Cave" with Roger Penrose et al.^[3] Geometry Through Time iBook,^[4] The "Images" Design book series with Running Press Publishers (USA.

^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

He founded "ix2 Innovations LLC," an educational products company based in Park City, Utah, in 2011. In 1999 he co-founded Sandvik Innovations LLC with Sandvik Publishing. Sandvik Innovations LLC was sold in 2011 to the Horizon Group; in the early 1990s he developed the Booktronics product line for Readers Digest, and before that was the Executive Vice-President of the Price Stern Sloan publishing company, Los Angeles.^[9][10]

Roger Burrows has invented a number of technologies including Magnix, Photo Q, and Booktronics and developed Questron, an interactive book and electronic "wand" system for children.^[11][12] He has produced exhibitions for the Leonardo, Utah's Science and Technology Museum, for the Investiture of the Prince of Wales, and for the Architectural Association in London. He has lectured at the Architectural Association, London, the Leonardo Science and technology Museum, Salt Lake City, and at the Bridges Conference 2016 in Finland.

Altair Design

Roger Burrows worked with Dr. Ensor Holiday, of Guy's Hospital, London, in the early 1970s, developing a set of geometric patterns called Altair Designs. Altair Designs were variations of a unique and unusual Islamic design constructed on an arrangement of close packing of circles, with variation in circle sizes.^[13] The design variations were found to have unique visual properties and served to stimulate the visual imagination. Altair Designs were originally published by Random House as colouring books for both adults and children under the Altair Design name.^[14] Burrows began developing, in the late 1960s, a dynamic geometry of close packing spheres of different sizes where spheres change size and move from one unique close packing arrangement to another, creating unique three-dimensional forms. Burrows has given numerous lectures on his geometry of close packing spheres as well as lectures on the evolution of geometrical systems through time, and how they were applied by cultures in the past. Burrows has also developed designs based on close packing circle arrangements generated by his geometry of spheres, including Images: The Ultimate Coloring Experience, and Hidden Images published by Running Press.^[15] Burrows redrew all of the original Altair designs for Wooden Books published in 2009. Altair Designs and Images designs are all based on unique geometrical structures – in the case of Altair Designs they are based on two arrangements of close packing circles and in the case of "Images" designs based on close packing circle arrangements of all sorts plus many other precise geometrical systems.

Other work

Burrows was an acquaintance, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, of Francis Huxley, (nephew of Aldous Huxley), author and teacher, who encouraged his early exploration of the cultural development of geometrical forms. He was also an acquaintance of quantum physicist David Bohm and Sufi writer Idries Shah. Whilst working at Price Stern Sloan Burrows worked with various celebrities, including Frank Zappa. Burrows is also a developer of interactive products for children, an inventor, and a technology developer, having developed and patented Questron, an electronic book system; Booktronics electronic books; Magnix, a print based system that makes paper, card, and plastic magnetically interactive; Photo Q, a means to print high resolution images on fabric; Trimensions, a technology that transforms books into three-dimensional experience; and many other technologies. Editions have been published in the UK, the US, and Hungary.^[16][17] Burrows has partnered with companies such as Disney and Ravensburger in creating educational products.^{[18][19][20][21][22]} and is best known for his series of geometric design books,.^[23]

Partial bibliography

Images

front cover
Author	Roger Burrows
Illustrator	Roger Burrows
Cover artist	Roger Burrows
Subject	colouring book
Publisher	Running Press
Publication date	1992
ISBN	1-56138-109-8
OCLC	31500010

• Labyrinths Hidden Geometry: available as an ibook title.
• Altair Design Pattern Pad 1: ISBN 978-1-907155-00-0:
• Altair Design Pattern Pad 2: ISBN 978-1-907155-01-7:
• Hidden Images: Garden: ISBN 978-0-7624-3951-5:
• Hidden Images: Vehicles: ISBN 978-0-7624-3950-8:
• Hidden Images: Dinosaurs: ISBN 978-0-7624-3973-7:
• Hidden Images: Dinosaurs: ISBN 978-0-7624-3974-4:
• Images 1 (Jumbo Edition): ISBN 978-0-7624-3908-9:
• Images 2 (Jumbo Edition): ISBN 978-0-7624-3909-6:
• Images Travel Pack: ISBN 978-0-7624-2288-3:
• Images Coloring Kit: ISBN 978-0-7624-1449-9:
  • Original Images series:
• Images 1: ISBN 978-1-56138-109-8:
• Images 2: ISBN 978-1-56138-110-4:
• Images 3: ISBN 978-1-56138-192-0:
• Images 4: ISBN 978-0-7624-0695-1:
• Images 5: ISBN 978-0-7624-1448-2:

References

1. http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/PDS/boards/Planning%20Board/agenda/kg_3161_3rd_st_att_b_6.5.08.pdf
2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1907155015/ref=pd_cp_14_3?ie=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1907155015&pd_rd_r=CHGH20CAQY4QSDXK4CKS&pd_rd_w=Pr3xK&pd_rd_wg=nSNkS&psc=1&refRID=CHGH20CAQY4QSDXK4CKS.
3. https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Cave-Ultimate-Geometric-Coloring/dp/1632866277/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475607779&sr=1-3&keywords=roger+burrows.
4. "Labyrinths"https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/labyrinths/id509585679?mt=11,
5. "A new photo-electric spectrophotometer", F Campbell Smith and Ensor R. Holiday, Research Laboratories, The London Hospital. 1931, Trans. Opt. Soc.
7. On Creativity David Bohm & Lee Nichol, pg. 85]
8. Nature, #143, 895–896 (27 May 1939) "Absorption Spectra of Proteins"
12. Questron titles at Alibris.com]
13. Bourgoin: Le Trait des Entrelacs (Arabic Geometrical Pattern & Design) (1879) (reprinted, Dover Books, 1973) – source for some of the ideas for Altair Designs
14. Altair Design by Ensor Holiday. Random House (1973) ISBN 0-394-82548-9
15. Images: The Ultimate Coloring Experience." Philadelphia: Running Press, 1992 through to 2011
16. Szinvarazs (Images), Hungarian edition
21. Mazes, Models & More (1988) Price Stern Sloan ISBN 978-0-8431-2281-7 ISBN 0843122811
22. Counting Farm, Roger Burrows and Eli Cantillon. School Zone Pub. Co, 2002. ISBN 978-1-58947-846-6 ISBN 1-58947-846-0
23. Gridesigns to Color Price Stern Sloan, 1992. ISBN 978-0-8431-0448-6 ISBN 0-8431-0448-1

External links

• Roger Burrows' official website
• Images at Google Books
• Burrows' account of his meeting with Ensor Holiday, at Wooden Books website