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By Patchen Barss

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A “beautifully composed and revealing” (Financial Times) biography of the dazzling and painful life of Nobel Prize–winning physicist Roger Penrose—”a stunning achievement” (Kai Bird, American Prometheus).

When he was six years old, Roger Penrose discovered a sundial in a clearing near his house. Through that machine made of light, shadow, and time, Roger glimpsed a “world behind the world” of transcendently beautiful geometry. It spurred him on a journey to become one of the world’s most influential mathematicians, philosophers, and physicists.

Penrose would prove the limitations of general relativity, set a new agenda for theoretical physics, and astound colleagues and admirers with the elegance and beauty of his discoveries. However, as Patchen Barss documents in The Impossible Man, success came at a price: He was attuned to the secrets of the universe, but struggled to connect with loved ones, especially the women who care for or worked with him.

Both erudite and poetic, The Impossible Man draws on years of research and interviews, as well as previously unopened archives to present a moving portrait of Penrose the Nobel Prize-winning scientist and Roger the human being. It reveals not just the extraordinary life of Roger Penrose, but asks who gets to be a genius, and who makes the sacrifices that allow one man to be one.

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"Patchen Barss’s absorbing biography, 'The Impossible Man,' is not a voyeuristic freak show. Mr. Barss, a science journalist, has a higher purpose: to help us better understand 'how science happens, where creative inspiration comes from, and who contributes and sacrifices to make works of genius possible.' On all three counts, he succeeds."
The Wall Street Journal
"A fascinating biography...beautifully composed and revealing. ... Barss, in addition to adeptly explaining complex concepts such as the singularity theorem, makes skillful and sensitive use of Penrose’s archive, plus interviews with Penrose himself (who did not have copy approval) and surviving friends, family and colleagues."
Anjana Ahuja, Financial Times
“A penetrating, warts and all biography of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose… Barss’s sensitive handling of Penrose’s tumultuous personal life puts this a notch above other ‘great minds’ biographies… a haunting portrait of a brilliant scientist unwilling to confront his personal shortcomings.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Superb insights into a flawed genius."
Kirkus (starred review)
“The Impossible Man is a primer to the Penrose understanding of the cosmos, and a remarkable study of the lengths one man has gone to avoid understanding himself.”
The Telegraph
“One day in 1965, Roger Penrose is crossing a London street and suddenly his imagination is working in four dimensions. The result is an insight that transforms Einstein’s relativity theorem. Patchen Barss writes lyrically about this scientific quest, but he also explores the frail human side of Penrose’s journey. The result is a page-turner reminiscent of James Gleick’s Genius, the bestselling biography of Richard Feynman. The Impossible Man is a stunning achievement.”
Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus
“Barss uses the skills of a fine novelist to tell the story of one of the true giants of twentieth-century mathematics and physics, Roger Penrose, in a biography that reveals the complex and compelling character of the man alongside the importance of his contributions to geometry, relativity, and a wide range of other fields. The biography that Penrose deserves.”
David N. Schwartz, author of The Last Man Who Knew Everything
“Phenomenal: blisteringly candid, elegiac, and utterly compelling, The Impossible Man strips away the myths to expose the frailties and foibles of a mathematical genius who inspired generations. A new landmark of scientific biography.”
Ananyo Bhattacharya, author of The Man from the Future
“A cosmic romance, at once intimate and grand. The Impossible Man is charming and gripping, edifying and soulful, a lot like Roger Penrose himself.”
Siobhan Roberts, author of Genius at Play

On Sale: Nov 12, 2024
Page Count: 352 pages
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN-13: 9781541603660

Patchen Barss

About the Author

Patchen Barss is a Toronto-based science journalist who has contributed to the BBC, Nautilus magazine, Scientific American, and the Discovery Channel (Canada), as well as to many science and natural history museums. His previous books include The Erotic Engine: How Pornography Has Powered Mass Communication, from Gutenberg to Google, and Flow Spin Grow: Looking for Patterns in Nature.

Learn more about this author