Roger Penrose, who was knighted in 1994, is the Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, England, and is particularly well known for his work on black holes, quantum gravity, aperiodic tiling and the science of the mind. In 1988 he was awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize for Physics which he shared with Stephen Hawking for their joint work on singularities in General Relativity.
He has authored numerous professional publications, advanced research monographs,
and three popular books:
1. The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics; Roger Penrose, Foreword by Martin Gardner / Paperback / Date Published: December 1990; Retail Price: $17.95
2. Shadows of the Mind : A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness Paperback (May 1996); Oxford Univ Pr (Trade); ISBN: 0195106466; Retail Price: $16.95
3. The Nature of Space and Time (Isaac Newton Institute Series of Lectures); Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose/ Hardcover / Published 1996; Princeton Univ Pr; ISBN: 0691037914 ; Retail Price: $26.95
Penrose was raised in a family with strong mathematical interests: his mother was a doctor, his father,
a medical geneticist, used maths in his work as well as his recreation, one brother is a mathematician,
another was ten times British chess champion. Roger originally was more attracted to medicine than math,
but when forced to choose between biology and maths because of inflexible school scheduling, he
was not willing to give up the mathematics.
Roger and his father are the creators of the famous Penrose staircase and the impossible triangle known
as the tribar. Both of these impossible figures were used in the work of Dutch graphic artist Maurits
Cornelis Escher to create structures such as a waterfall where the water appears to flow uphill and a
building with an impossible staircase which rises or falls endlessly yet returns to the same level.