Black Holes, Symmetries and Impossible Triangles - In Conversation with Roger Penrose

Sir Roger Penrose is a mathematical physicist and Nobel Laureate whose work spans impossible triangles and tilings that bear his name to the mathematical underpinnings of black holes.

Sir Roger Penrose Kt OM FRS is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor at Oxford. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics and the Wolf Prize in Physics and was appointed to the Order of Merit. His work spans general relativity, black holes, cosmology, tiling theory and the theory of mind.

Thomas Fink is the founding Director of the London Institute and Charge de Recherche in the French CNRS. He studied physics at Caltech, Cambridge and École Normale Supérieure. His work includes statistical physics, combinatorics and the mathematics of evolvable systems.

Yang-Hui He is a Fellow at the London Institute, Professor at City University, Chang-Jiang Chair at NanKai University and Lecturer at Merton College, Oxford. He studied at Princeton, Cambridge and MIT and works at the interface of string theory, geometry and machine learning.

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[mehridin]

I see Penrose, I click. This guy is a relief and a beacon of sanity and common sense in the popular science community.

[jmanj]

*Of all of Sir Roger's traits I find it the most endearing how he readily, even happily, admits to when, where and how he has been wrong. What a true genius!*

[ignorasmus]

I don't understand so much of what he says but it is still a bliss listening to him.
Any crumbs that do get through my thick skull are gold!

[RyanK-]

Thank you to the interviewers for not cutting him off every 30 seconds like interviews on the major TV networks.

[bokchoiman]

Roger's ceaseless curiosity is inspirational. Even at 90, he's on the frontier of physics and hungry for more knowledge. Thank you Sir for your work.

[soultrick]

Finally, dude gets standing applause, recognition and respect that he deserve years ago. Glad to see that, better late than never.

[patemblen]

Such an amazing man. The mind he has at his age is incredible. His form of thinking is just a step beyond. And he's so personable to boot!

[krotenschemel]

Last year I saw Penrose in the news. One of those articles about him.
My immediate reaction: "Oh no, they posted his obituary" so I deaded reading the rest of the news.
Yet I did only to find out, that he just go a nobel prize. Quite a relief.

[bendavis]

I just finished reading one of his books “Cycles of Time” and it covers his fascinating view on cosmology in detail. It was more challenging than any other layman books that I’ve read, but that made it even more fulfilling IMO. Penrose doesn’t shy away from equations and succeeds in keeping the book interesting and readable. Shout out to him for being such an inspiration to the scientific community!

[jbrownjetmech-]

Sir Penrose speaking out a lifetime of study in only a few minutes. Magnificent.

[edwardlee]

A very well respected English scientists of classical caliber. Contributed so much to the understanding of the universe, stripping the underpants off the corners where sun don't shine.
Wishing you health and all the best professor Roger.
Thanks for all line up and keep up with the good work.
From Hker worldwide

[kelly]

I love the shout-out for Birkbeck College, University of London :) Such a fantastic organisation with the goal of educating people beyond the traditional undergraduate age, who have families and careers to manage. Not many know that Birkbeck has such an esteemed list of alumni and colleagues.

[Shcoulz]

Outstanding mind. He has rare ability to have a fresh look at complicated things. Love to listening him

[eskileriksson]

In Sweden, we skipped all titles in the sixties, except for the royal family. Makes social interactions so much easier. But this man I would definitely address as Sir! So smart, well spoken, and a real joy to listen to.

[johnbuyers]

Absolute proof that following only one course of subject will end in being wrong. Opening yourself to multiple subjects, wether mathematics, physics or art give you a much more developed sense of seeing the complete answer. (Or as complete as we can so far manage, we need more scientists like this)

[wuyqrbt]

Wow
*Professor Roger Penrose* is here .... This program is just GREAT I'm sure!
Thank you so much dear *Ri*

[Carfeu]

Sir Roger is a gem, so good to see him talk and just effortlessly show his genius

[stylis]

This is so wonderful! Such a lovely interview with one of the greatest minds of our time. And I had no idea that the triangle was actually sir Penrose's idea. I thought it was all Escher. I remember drawing it over and over in highschool during math and science classes. Little did I know XD I played Diablo II for over 25 years now and the Arcane Sanctuary has versions of the perpetual staircase in it. My father had a book of Escher's. Well... in theory. In practice it was mine. I had never liked books much unless they were dictionaries or encyclopedias so when my dad put the book away I took it and put it with the dictionaries and encyclopedias and declared the case as my sacred shrine where I had my books I loved.
And it may seem insignificant, but I never got to finish college or go to a university and I have a deep admiration not just for sir Penrose but for all physicists, mathematicians, and what have you. I love seeing and hearing them all do what I cannot and only once hoped of being a part of. For me the triangle was a symbol for my love for learning and beauty and now knowing it came not from the Dutch artist I adore, but from the great Penrose, inspired by Escher, I feel vindicated in my love for physics, Escher's and Penrose's drawings, and just fun stuff in general.
Thanks to my brother, who did become a scientist, in chemistry, I do know some science nerds like my father, my brother, and myself, and if there's one thing I've learned about scientists, it's that they all seem to have this deep rooted enjoyment in life. I've met people from all walks of life and most people just live their lives and only few actually experience and enjoy it. With scientists I've never met one that didn't thoroughly enjoy experiencing life. Thank you, sir Penrose, for being such an amazing gentleman.
And I should phone my brother. It's been a while since I've seen him, weeks if not months and I miss him.

[riodasperolas]

Congratulations for having Roger Penrose tonight and giving RI subscribers the opportunity to enjoy his memories which are live History of Science.

[.-]

Thankyou RI channel for bringing Sir Roger into my world. I am blessed to have watched Sir Roger tell us about his journey with mathematics to unravel the secrets of nature and what we are within it. What a brilliant mind.