Draft:Robert Bittlestone

Robert Bittlestone, BA (03 April 1952 – 4 May 2015) was a British businessman, trained Management Accountant and amateur classicist. He founded Metapraxis Ltd in 1984 and is the author of two books, Financial Management for Business, Cracking the Hidden Code, 2010 and Odysseus Unbound - The Search for Homer's Ithaca.

Early life and education
Born in 1952, Robert Bittlestone studied at Charterhouse School before reading Economics at Christ's College, Cambridge.

Business career
Robert Bittlestone played a significant role in advancing the use of data visualisation for financial analysis, which he developed during his time working in the financial analysis function at Vickers in the 1970s.

Motivated by the desire to improve the performance of all businesses through the better understanding of data, he began a consultancy with some of the worlds largest companies to assist with their creation of business intelligence from data in order to support their strategic planning. The methodologies developed for bringing together diverse data sources in a meaningful relationship laid the foundation for a groundbreaking business planning and analysis software system within his company, Metapraxis.

Initially exclusively used to support consulting activities, the software system marked a significant advancement. Robert Bittlestone continued his pioneering work until his retirement due to ill health in 2012. In 2010, he authored the book Financial Management for business: cracking the hidden code, complemented by the online learning course "Accounting Intuition," which uses visualisation techniques to teach the fundamental principles of accounting. The course aims to help both accountants and individuals in non-financial roles develop an intuitive understanding of the essentials of business.

Interests in the Classics
Alongside his business pursuits, Robert Bittlestone maintained a deep passion for the Classics. In 2005, he authored Odysseus Unbound - The Search for Homer's Ithaca, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY) 2005, featuring appendices by the philologist James Diggle and the geologist John Underhill.

News articles and footage
The Geological Society: Lineage of leaves article by Dr Ted Nield, NUJ FGS

Odysseus Unbound: Tributes to Robert Bittlestone's.

BBC Channel 4 News: Island Odyssey - the search for Ancient Ithaca, 2007. It's one of the founding stories of Western civilisation - the epic journey home to Ithaca by Odysseus following his victory in the Trojan War. Julian Rush and Channel 4 News report on dramatic developments in Robert Bittlestone's quest to find Ancient Ithaca, the home of Odysseus. Broadcast: 9 January 2007

BBC News: Search 'locates' Homer's Ithaca, 2005, An amateur British archaeologist says he has located Ithaca, the homeland of Homer's legendary hero Odysseus. Robert Bittlestone - backed by two experts - claims the rocky island depicted in The Odyssey is part of Greek tourist destination Cephalonia.

YouTube: Odysseus Unbound Explained, Robert Bittlestone

BBC News: Drilling 'boosts Homeric theory', A British-led team is amassing evidence that indicates Kefalonia's western peninsula, Paliki, was only recently joined to the main landmass.