Roger Penrose

English mathematical physicist, recreational mathematician and philosopher · United Kingdom · Scientists · Born 1931 · age 95

Roger Penrose is read about 1,967 times a day, in 79 languages.

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He proved black holes are inevitable under Einstein's equations - work that earned him a Nobel fifty years after he changed how physics sees gravity's final act.

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A life in dates

2020Nobel Prize in PhysicsAward2011Fonseca PrizeAward2008Clarivate Citation LaureatesAward2007“Does life in some way make use of the potentiality for vast quantum superpositions, as would be required for serious quantum computation?”In their wordsMarch 2007Foreword (March 2007) to Quantum Aspects of Life (2008), by Derek Abbott.Read the whole statement

2005Honorary Doctor of the University of WarsawAward2004De Morgan MedalAward2000Karl Schwarzschild MedalAwardOrder of MeritAward1998Honorary DoctorateAward1997“There are two other words I do not understand - awareness and intelligence. Well, why am I talking about things when I do not know what they really mean?”In their wordsThe Large, the Small and the Human Mind (1997).Read the whole statement

1994Knight BachelorAward1991Naylor Prize and LectureshipAward1989“I have been arguing that such 'God-given' mathematical ideas should have some kind of timeless existence, independent of our earthly selves.”In their wordsCh. 3, Mathematics and reality, p. 97.Read the whole statement

“It seems to me that we must make a distinction between what is "objective" and what is "measurable" in discussing the question of physical reality, according to quantum mechanics.”In their wordsCh. 6, Quantum Magic and Quantum Mastery, p. 269.Read the whole statement

“How is it that mathematical ideas can be communicated in this way?”In their wordsCh. 10, Where lies the physics of mind?, p. 428.Read the whole statement

“According to this view, the mind is always capable of this direct contact. But only a little may come through at a time.”In their wordsCh. 10, Where lies the physics of mind?, p. 429.Read the whole statement

IOP Dirac MedalAward1985Royal MedalAward1972Fellow of the Royal SocietyAward1966Adams PrizeAward1931Born8 August 1931

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In their own words 10

Roger Penrose

10 statements, newest first

Does life in some way make use of the potentiality for vast quantum superpositions, as would be required for serious quantum computation?
Mar 2007, Foreword (March 2007) to Quantum Aspects of Life (2008), by Derek Abbott., Own words
Understanding is, after all, what science is all about - and science is a great deal more than mindless computation.
2002, As quoted in The Golden Ratio : The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number (2002) by Mario Livio, p. 201., Own words
There are two other words I do not understand - awareness and intelligence. Well, why am I talking about things when I do not know what they really mean?
1997, The Large, the Small and the Human Mind (1997)., Own words

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Awards

Nobel Prize in Physics2020

Pomeranchuk Prize2019

Fonseca Prize2011

Copley Medal2008

Clarivate Citation Laureates2008

Dirac Medal for the Advancement of Physics2006

Honorary Doctor of the University of Warsaw2005

Honorary doctor of the Catholic University of Louvain2005

Dalton Medal2005

De Morgan Medal2004

Amaldi Medal2004

Karl Schwarzschild Medal2000

Marcel Grossmann Award2000

Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship2000

Order of Merit2000

Helmholtz Medal1998

Honorary Doctorate1998

Knight Bachelor1994

Forder Lectureship1993

Naylor Prize and Lectureship1991

Albert Einstein Medal1990

Royal Society Science Books Prize1990

IOP Dirac Medal1989

Wolf Prize in Physics1988

Royal Medal1985

Eddington Medal1975

Fellow of the Royal Society1972

Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics1971

Adams Prize1966

Commander of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland

Family

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Roger Penrose

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About this person

Born 8 August 1931, Penrose built his career at Oxford, where he became Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics. In 1988 he shared the Wolf Prize with Stephen Hawking for the Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems; the 2020 Nobel followed for showing that black hole formation is a robust prediction of general relativity. Along the way he invented the Penrose triangle, corresponded with M. C. Escher (shaping Waterfall and Ascending and Descending), and devised an aperiodic tiling that preceded the discovery of quasicrystals. His 1989 book The Emperor's New Mind won the Royal Society Science Books Prize and laid out his controversial ideas on consciousness; The Road to Reality arrived in 2004, billed as a complete guide to the laws of the universe.

Country

United Kingdom

In common with Roger

Stephen HawkingBoth received Naylor Prize and Lectureship

David AttenboroughBoth received Fonseca Prize

Peter HiggsBoth received Wolf Prize in Physics

Hans BetheBoth received Eddington Medal

Subrahmanyan ChandrasekharBoth received Karl Schwarzschild Medal

Scientists from the United Kingdom 1

Rebecca Smethurst66.2

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