The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe

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The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 1,555 ratings · 102 reviews

The Road to Reality is the most important and ambitious work of science for a generation. It provides nothing less than a comprehensive account of the physical universe and the essentials of its underlying mathematical theory. It assumes no particular specialist knowledge on the part of the reader, so that, for example, the early chapters give us the vital mathematical bac...more

Paperback, 1136 pages

Published February 2nd 2006 by Vintage (first published January 1st 2004)

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Sep 05, 2011 Manny rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who seriously want to understand physics better

Recommended to Manny by: Nick Black

Shelves: linguistics-and-philosophy, science, science-fiction, transcendent-experiences, well-i-think-its-funny, why-not-call-it-poetry, life-is-dante

Many of my all-time favourite books make the list because they show you what it's like to be inside the mind of an extraordinary person. While you're reading them, Churchill's History of the Second World War and Yourcenar's Mémoires d'Hadrien let you be a great statesman at a pivotal moment in history. Simone de Beauvoir's autobiography, more than any other book I know, gives you the feeling of being a major literary figure. Polugayevsky's Grandmaster Preparation, which many chessplayers treat a...more

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May 22, 2012 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

Dave Langford, SF&F critic and reviewer, in his long-since defunct column for White Dwarf magazine, once said that, "There is a tendency to over-praise big books simply because one has got through them." I agree that this tendency exists but note that Langford gave no reason for it. I think the reason is more or less macho intellectual pride; look at me! I read this honking great saga! It must be great or I'd have to admit wasting my time! And I need to show off my intellectual credentials!...more

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May 15, 2011 Nick Black rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-multiple-times, incredibly-large, textbook-as-literature, important, autographed

Penrose came to GT and gave an open lecture on cosmic parameters and cosmological arguments from the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (chapter 27 in this book, one of the most ambitious and impressive -- if incomplete, a bit uneven, and just as taxing as you've heard -- catechisms I've ever read), and a closed lecture on twistor theory (chapter 33), and signed my copy! w00t! I shook Sir Roger's hand as trillions of neutrinos passed through us both, completely undetected, our entangled R-type state evol...more

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May 02, 2010 Aerin added it · review of another edition

Shelves: astrophysics, science, nonfiction

The Tao that can be named
is not the eternal Tao

What we know of physics is "the Tao that can be named"; and while it is an incomplete and imperfect representation of the eternal Tao, it is still fascinating and incredibly beautiful.

Don't ask me why reading books on mathematics and the physical sciences always puts me in mind of the Tao te Ching. I think because studying these things is the closest I really ever come to religious wonder, the awe of the infinite, and the woeful incapacity of our pu...more

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Jun 27, 2008 Ezra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this book RULES. it is a sort of primer on the mathematics required to really understand quantum physics. of course, that is a pretty huge pile of stuff, and this is a damn huge book. it moves faaast too: the entire theoretical foundations of single-variable calculus takes up one chapter. the reader is rapidly pulled through pretty heavy cram sessions in multivariable calculus, algebraic topology, real analysis... everything you need! and yet, it does not feel at all dense, because roger penrose...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Tatiana rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is too sprawling to wait and review all at once at the end, so I've decided to do it little by little as I go along.

I thought the prologue sucked, but immediately after that it became deeply fascinating, so don't get discouraged. I guess I should say why I hated it, though. It seemed as though he was judging former times and societies through a "presentist" lens, as though all people have always and only been scientists since the start of time, only they were really bad at it back then...more This book is too sprawling to wait and review all at once at the end, so I've decided to do it little by little as I go along.

I thought the prologue sucked, but immediately after that it became deeply fascinating, so don't get discouraged. I guess I should say why I hated it, though. It seemed as though he was judging former times and societies through a "presentist" lens, as though all people have always and only been scientists since the start of time, only they were really bad at it back then. It's kind of a scientist's way of ignoring everything else about reality besides science, and made me a bit nauseated, thinking "oh no I hope he's not going to be this dumb all the way through." Luckily, he quickly transitioned to extreme brilliance, in which he's jaw-droppingly continued since then. Even though he's talking so far about seemingly simple stuff, he keeps knocking me for a loop with his deep insights which I've never considered before.

Only in chapter 3 so far, and discussing integers, irrational numbers, and the real numbers. I keep having to stop and think hard about the things he's saying. He asks the question if we lived in a universe where things were an amorphous soup would the integers exist there. He also points out that calculus (and stuff like momentum, velocity, and many of our physical concepts depend on calculus) is defined on the real numbers. If it turns out that the universe is discrete at the tiniest level, this math won't apply anymore (except as an approximation). However, he also observes that the real numbers first invented in Euclid's day when we had physical evidence spanning only some 15 orders of magnitudes (the smallest to largest distances known) are still going strong now when our knowledge spans something like 150 orders of magnitude, so they aren't doing too badly! These are the notions of someone who has thought deeply about how math and physics are intertwined. I keep being dumbstruck with things he casually asks about things that are ostensibly simple which I've known forever but never thought to ask that. Really important stuff. He is breathtakingly brilliant! I'm so glad I'm reading this book!

Aside: The more I read the more sure I am that Platonic essences exist independent of the nature of physical reality, and independent of their instantiation in some physical reality.

Spent some time going over familiar ground in the complex plane. It's been long enough since I studied or used this stuff that it's quite enjoyable and satisfying to do that. I think I've settled on the slow savoring method of reading this book rather than the quick devour. This review's going to be very long, but I hope it'll admit of savoring a bit as well. =)

In Chapter 5 now, and talking about e and logarithms, I wondered why it is again that e is a more natural base for logarithms than any other number. So I spent some time adding it up from the formula e = (1/0!)+(1/1!)+(1/2!)+(1/3!)+(1/4!)+(1/5!)+... and watched the digits slowly materializing 2.7182.... so I believe that much. =) Next I'm reading again how e originally came up in playing around with logs and powers. This book has that effect that it makes me think again about stuff that I haven't thought about since I was young. I would really like to feel I understood what we know of reality inside and out when I'm done. I want to see the whole chain starting from one cow, two cows on up to the standard model and beyond. It's always been an obsession of mine just to understand how things freaking work, what the universe is like, what nature is based on, and I have this feeling I could get much closer by going through this volume carefully. The title keeps reminding me of the Royal Road to Geometry, which Aristotle reportedly told Alexander the Great did not exist, so that's some kind of warning, hah!

So far I've resisted the urge to jump ahead, except for reading the section called "beauty and miracles" near the very end. You have to admit that's an attractive section name! Alas, I understood it only in the broadest way, that beauty (mathematical elegance) and miracles (seemingly crazy mathematical coincidences such as all the complicated terms happening to drop out or whatever) act as a powerful but not unfailing guide so far to finding theories that fit how nature behaves. At that moment, my dear kitten Alai jumped up and sat right on the book, as if to say, "you want beauty and miracles? Just look at me!" As I pet him, I kept saying "beauty and miracles" affectionately. (less)

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Feb 09, 2009 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Engineers, Teachers & Weird Guys

Recommended to Michael by: Some weird guy at the gym.

I desperately want to make it through this book. I might be crazy. I think part of my fascination with finishing it is to compensate for not finishing engineering school. I can tell you this... It would be a lot easier to read if I had attained my degree (and actually learned the material along the way). Nonetheless, this book opens in the most interesting and captivating fashion, which says a lot about a book that works to explain the universe by walking through the history of mathematics. A co...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Yasiru rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: physics-and-other-science

As accurate a title as can be for this tremendously ambitious behemoth. I very much enjoyed the masterful laying of a mathematical framework when first I came across it (the first dozen or so chapters if memory serves; hence the rating, as well as for the aforementioned ambition in the task- I think this is a right way to go, though popular expositors seldom venture down this route), as Penrose does it so efficiently (and naturally too, so that the layman wouldn't shove it aside in disgust after...more

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Jun 28, 2008 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This excellent, definitive work is not for the faint of heart of the weak of mathematics. You'll have finished most of the material for an undergraduate degree in math by the time you've worked your way through this: the first half of the book starts with Pythagorean number theory, complex number calculus, Riemann surfaces, Fourier decomposition, n-dimensional manifolds, Lie symmetry groups, and builds out from there. However, rich fruit is reaped in the second half of the book, which delves dee...more

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Aug 21, 2007 Rajesh Chepuri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: physics: link to math, relativity, quantum mechanics

This is a great book. I have finished reading the first part i.e, math part of the book. It opened lot of windows for me in the world of mathematics. Though a computer graduate, I have lot of interest in physics. I have read lot of material on relativity but none gave me the the insight to it like this book. Before this book, I had no knowledge of non-eucildean geometry and its importance to physics. But now I know lot about Riemann and other great people's contribution.

The graphical presentatio...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Simone Scardapane marked it as abandoned · review of another edition

Shelves: scientific

I casi sono due: o possedete un dottorato in Fisica (o in Matematica), nel qual caso potreste anche apprezzare questo mastodontico libro, oppure non possedete almeno uno dei suddetti dottorati, nel qual caso, rassegnatevi: leggerlo sarà la stessa cosa che leggere un libro scritto in cirillico (sempre che non sappiate il cirillico, é chiaro).

L'inizio, ad essere sinceri, fa ben sperare: Penrose incoraggia il lettore, affermando che necessita solo di una minima base matematica e di un po' di buona...more

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Sep 23, 2012 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Penrose examines the turn modern theoretical physics has taken in pursuit of multi-dimensional mathematical models to develop a unified model of the sub-atomic realm. His argument is not entirely mathematical, though he does have good arguments against unnecessary complexity from the point of view of the straightforward progress made by theoretical physics in discovering the mathematical elegance of relationships among various observed constants. His most profound argument against String Theory...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Benjamin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an audacious book, and a daunting read. Despite the months I spent working my way through it, I feel I barely scratched the surface, and I'm ill-equipped to really review it. A few random thoughts follow.

The book takes the refreshing (and unpopular amongst most pop-science books) view that the physics can't really be discussed without developing the necessary mathematical foundations, and it spends quite a lot of time introducing those mathematical subjects. That being said, it is probab...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Suhrob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

This is a might be the best *children* book of our generation. Bear
with me. My favorite book when I was small was a some 1000 pages thick
encyclopedia of astronomy - and I am sure I am not the only who was
fascinated and inspired by a similarly mesmerizing and daunting
book. Full of strange pictures and even stranger ideas. Penrose's book
could be such a book for our kids. Do buy and keep it within easy
reach. Who knows?

LESS IMPORTANTLY (despite attempt still not really a factual rev...more

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Jun 30, 2011 notgettingenough added it

Shelves: haven-t-read-but, science-sort-of, science-fiction

So we had a physicist around to dinner the other day and thrust this at him. I can't call T---- by his real name, let's just say he rhymes with a dip made with chickpeas and tahini. The reason I can't call him by his real name is that he works at a place that starts with C and rhymes with a complete lack of humour. He likes his job, I don't want to get him sacked for reading Penrose.

He flicks through it and the first thing I note is that physicists take about 5 nanoseconds to read what it takes...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Amazing. While I can not exactly call Road to Reality a popularization of general relativity and quantum theory, it is a peerless introduction to and review of those topics. I have a PhD in mathematics, and studied physics and math as an undergraduate, and there was plenty for me to learn from this book. There are very few people in the world who would not learn much from reading it.

Many years ago, I read Penrose's Emporer's New Mind which was good as far as it went, but earned my derision with...more

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Nov 10, 2009 Leo Walsh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Scientific Readers w/ Math Skills

How Would a Physicist Think About the Quantum World?

I usually fly through books, and have no problem understanding them. Not this one. Over a year after I first cracked it, I am finally done. I am amazed by the rigor of this work. In fact, I can say that I “sort of” understand the major concepts of quantum mechanics as a physicist would.

Most popularizations of quantum physics are simplifications, ignoring the math. More insidious, the concepts of quantum mechanics are used to “justify” some scie...more How Would a Physicist Think About the Quantum World?

I usually fly through books, and have no problem understanding them. Not this one. Over a year after I first cracked it, I am finally done. I am amazed by the rigor of this work. In fact, I can say that I “sort of” understand the major concepts of quantum mechanics as a physicist would.

Most popularizations of quantum physics are simplifications, ignoring the math. More insidious, the concepts of quantum mechanics are used to “justify” some scientifically unjustifiable new-age claim. This book takes the intellectually honest tract, and makes you actually think mathematically. Imagine that. Needless to say, it is not easy. Especially when Penrose takes calculus to the complex number plane.

I do take some issue with Penrose’s assertions that mathematics is a reflection of the platonic world of forms, and this reflection indicates just how precise the world is. And that our “pure, mathematical minds” are structured to reflect this reality. Taken this way, reality would be a mathematical system, and in order to understand reality, all we need to do is understand math.

To me, it seems to me that math is a tool science uses to describe reality. Science proper merely probes reality, and builds a plausible model. More data refines the model. Conflicting data--one need only think about the late 19th century conundrum of the speed of light being constant regardless of frame of reference—can often lead to a paradigm shift ala Einstein. In fact, mathematical science seems essentially to be a map, and not the messy territory of reality.

Still, this book rewards handsomely if you persevere. Philosophical quibbles aside, Penrose is much smarter than I. He manages to make opaque concepts at least semi-translucent. Modern physics is an exciting, confusing, complex field. This book illuminates handsome portions of it for the lay reader. And brush up on you calculus; imaginary/ complex numbers; and your geometry before you begin.
(less)

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Nov 15, 2009 DJ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: priority, physics

I have a suspicion that Penrose hasn't spoken to a undergraduate in 30 years. His notion of "introductory material" is not just wrong, its downright strange.

The famed mathematician devotes several pages to discussing the addition of fractions then breezes through holomorphic functions and Reimann spheres.

I'll return to this book in a year or two when I have the mathematical background to qualify as a "non-mathematician."

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Jul 05, 2012 Mark Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When the world was younger and more innocent - well, maybe not so innocent - cultured men and women were expected to be conversant with all of the latest ideas, not only in fashion, politics and literature, but also in the realms of philosophy and the sciences. I am referring to the era when Emilie du Chatelet provided the first translation of Newton's Principia into French, when she and her erstwhile husband Voltaire collaborated on physics and chemistry experiments, and when it would have been...more When the world was younger and more innocent - well, maybe not so innocent - cultured men and women were expected to be conversant with all of the latest ideas, not only in fashion, politics and literature, but also in the realms of philosophy and the sciences. I am referring to the era when Emilie du Chatelet provided the first translation of Newton's Principia into French, when she and her erstwhile husband Voltaire collaborated on physics and chemistry experiments, and when it would have been common to hear heated debates about the philosophical implications of Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation in the coffee shops of Europe.

Alas, one rarely hears such discussion in non-academic polite society these days. Perhaps, the pendulum will swing, and it will again be fashionable to admit to a fascination with the way things work in our universe at the fundamental level. Maybe - and this is I realize wishful thinking - the names and most recent accomplishments of our greatest physicists and mathematicians will be as familiar to the educated public as the names and feats of our finest golfers. If and when that day arrives, Penrose's brilliant synopsis of the current theories about physical reality will be an indispensable guide.

In the first 16 chapters of his book, Penrose gives the reader a crash course in the language of mathematics - a Berlitz course to be sure, but with enough grammar, syntax and vocabulary to allow any reasonably intelligent, attentive and motivated individual to at least ask directions. This book fills a gaping void between popularizations of science, which assume that the reader has neither the capacity nor the patience to devote to mathematics (the bus tour approach to visiting the world of contemporary physics), and full-blown technical expositions which presuppose a graduate level background in higher mathematics. For the autodidact interested in gaining a more than passing knowledge of modern theories of cosmology, quantum mechanics, gravitation, and the mathematical underpinnings of such theories, this book places things in perspective. Exactly how do such fields as differential topology, group theory, complex analysis and algebraic geometry fit in to the modern efforts to explain the universe? This book will motivate one to explore these fields more deeply, and provides a wonderful bibliography to guide the quest.

Penrose has a marvellous ability to illustrate the aesthetic joys of mathematics. His own passion for the subject shines forth and illuminates every page. Those who have the fortitude to tackle this wonderful exposition will be rewarded with a new language - a language in which some of the most beautiful works of art ever conceived by man have been written. Kudos to Dr. Penrose. 5 stars. (less)

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Mar 02, 2013 Opisthokont rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are three great things about this book (apart from the subject itself, which is the reason that I read it in the first place); the scope, the structure, and the level of detail.

The scope is simply all modern fundamental physics, which is impressive in itself. The structure is different from most other popular science books in that the first third of the book is almost entirely pure mathematics, covering most of the theory that is needed to understand the actual physics; basic definitions o...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Jennie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone interested

This book is well known to be readable for a wide range of audiences. Penrose does a superb job of marrying theoretical physics with geometry. Laymen can skip the equations and be treated to intuitive explanations of cutting edge physics. Experts will gain a more holistic understanding of the ties between math and physics. Penrose is not shy in this book about graduate level mathematical terminology and notation, and he accompanies it with beautiful geometric imagery and intuition. Due to the wi...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Ramon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the best mathematically complete but general and interesting physics books by one of the greatest of the field.

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Jan 10, 2012 Gillian Andrews rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a truly amazing work. Unfortunately, you need to be as clever as Roger Penrose himself to understand all of it. I am obviously not in that category!

The text-book of all text-books, although it really isn't one. Roger Penrose sets out to transmit his lifetime's accumulation of knowledge.

Despite having a background in Maths and Astrophysics, I was left wishing I knew a lot more in order to truly appreciate all he has to say.

Definitely THE Desert Island book. There is enough in over a thou...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Cassandra Silva rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

Penrose, Penrose, Penrose. Oh how I LONG to know thee. I am becoming minorly obsessed with you and your work. I am pacing for crying out loud. I am running myself in circles. Opening, closing, referencing, coming back, straining my eyes as if that will make me see the world that you do. Why do you elude me so? Why does your tongue speak as if attached to the left temporal lobe itself? I catch glimpses of this reality you see. I feel myself drawn to it in longing for truth and understanding. For...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Swagato Barman Roy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Great read provided that you have the sufficient scientific background. Albeit in the preface, the author promises to keep the stuffs accessible to non-mathematical readers (to the level of them who can't see the equality between 3/4 and 6/8), from the third chapter onwards, the contents became a bit too technical, so much so that anyone even with an undergraduate mathematics background will find most of the concepts difficult to fathom. But still, if you are passionate about physics/mathematics...more

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Jan 18, 2013 F Avery rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

By his own admission in the preface, this is Penrose' attempt to popularize the current thinking in theoretical physics, including quantum mechanics, relativity, and unification theories such as string theories and quantum gravity. In the introduction he says (paraphrased) that he has intentionally gone for the more mathematical route, in spite of advice to the contrary, but he hopes that those without a mathematical bent can just skip the equations and get the gist of the concepts anyway.
With d...more By his own admission in the preface, this is Penrose' attempt to popularize the current thinking in theoretical physics, including quantum mechanics, relativity, and unification theories such as string theories and quantum gravity. In the introduction he says (paraphrased) that he has intentionally gone for the more mathematical route, in spite of advice to the contrary, but he hopes that those without a mathematical bent can just skip the equations and get the gist of the concepts anyway.
With due respect to the author, his attempt at “popularization” is a failure. I wonder who he thinks his target audience is when he goes to great pains to explain basic concepts such as imaginary numbers and why they aren't so mysterious and yet throws out higher level abstractions that take time even for a college graduate to feel comfortable with. His target audience seems to drift from the lay person on the street up to professional mathematicians and physicists.
In my opinion this book of over 1000 pages replete with equations and complex diagrams would be good fodder for several graduate courses in mathematical physics. He introduces such abstractions as complex analysis, abstract algebra, manifolds, bundles on manifolds, tensor fields, Lie groups, Hilbert spaces, etc with just a few words of explanation and a lot of hairy equations, after which he marches on with advanced theoretical concepts and applications to physics. I studied most of those topics in graduate school to some degree, but I was especially comfortable with Hilbert spaces and complex analysis. And yet, it was all I could do to keep up with him. Perhaps it's the fact that I was in my early thirties then and had more functioning neurons, but this 63 year old brain found it hard to track his descriptions, let alone the equations. I confess that (in spite of considering myself an erstwhile mathematician) I often attempted to take the route he had advised for the non-mathematically inclined: just gloss over the equations and get the general concept. But his descriptions are mostly so down in the details that I found it difficult to get to the general concepts from the text alone.
I also decided that I don't like his writing style much. It varies from overly verbose and redundant to cryptic and abstract in the extreme. And the edition I have was poorly edited: there were many mistakes such as unclosed parentheses, repeated words, missing words, and grammar mistakes. Given how turgid his prose is I don't envy the job of the editors, but it's still their job to find those kinds of obvious errors.
The one good thing from all this is that I think I finally (kind of) understand tensors and tensor fields. For whatever reason I didn’t get into tensors when I studied differential geometry in the early 80's and I’ve found this to be a deficiency in my education over the years (e.g. understanding the field equations of general relativity). His description prompted me to study up on tensors and I found a couple of good websites with detailed descriptions and examples.
In any case, I DO recommend the book if you have a knack for or interest in advance mathematics and theoretical physics. I DON’T recommend it if you want an easy read in popular science to make you feel smart :-).(less)

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Jan 06, 2013 Brandon Byrne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: rereads

Wow, this book covers so much material I don't even know where to start. Nor am I exactly qualified to review a few of the more advanced topics, but I haven't finished the thing yet, so I'm working on it. This is not a textbook per se, and it reads much more smoothly and purposefully than a boring theorem, proof type structure. Just an fyi though, the first third or so is essentially a survey/seminar on modern math. It begins benignly with philosophy, euclidean geometry, and intro to hyperbolic...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Jonnie Enloe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science

I have read this book once. It will take at least two more reading before I can absorb everything I want from it. If you are into this kind of stuff, particularly with all the "Through the wormhole" etc., etc., a read like this is good information. As to where you can use that information, well, where can you use the info about Winston Churchill except in conversation. Just the self satisfaction of having acquired the knowledge in a world changing faster than we can possibly keep up.

Roger Penros...more

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May 22, 2013 Radoslaw rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: physics

Most of the topics introduced in this book I only understood after having studied them with proper textbooks. Now that I learned some of this stuff, that book is readable, but back then... Penrose is a horrible science popularizer. The content itself is good once you can read it and know what he's talking about, but it's too hard for someone with a mere high school math background, and I guess way too hard for someone who can't even understand fractions unlike what Penrose claims.

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Nov 17, 2008 Bo Chen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone who is not afraid of a headache/migraine

This is a very comprehensive work by Penrose. It is also a very difficult book for me to read. I definitely rate it five stars for the reason that there are no other books of its kind or in its class that I know of. This is a must read for all who are interested in TOE.

Having said that for the not so mathematically inclined (myself included) I don't know what's more ironic, the fact that Penrose "Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe" is most definitely not by any means...more

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About Roger Penrose

Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College. He has received a number of prizes and awards, including the 1988 Wolf Prize for physics which he shared with Stephen Hawking for their contribution to our understanding of the universe. He is renow...more

More about Roger Penrose...

Books by Roger Penrose

The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics

Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness

Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe

Relativity: The Special and the General Theory

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“We have a closed circle of consistency here: the laws of physics produce complex systems, and these complex systems lead to consciousness, which then produces mathematics, which can then encode in a succinct and inspiring way the very underlying laws of physics that gave rise to it.” — 8 people liked it

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