Roger Penrose explored a range of topics in mathematical theory and physics, including relativity theory, quantum mechanics, astrophysics, cosmology, possible and impossible geometric shapes, and how the human brain works. With theoretical physicist and professor Stephen Hawking, he extended our understanding of black holes and the "big bang" theory of the origin of the universe, and his work with geometric puzzles shed light on the nature of quasi-crystals.

Penrose was born August 8, 1931, in Colchester, England. His father, Lionel S. Penrose, was a geneticist, and his mother, Margaret Newman, a doctor; his uncle, Sir Roland Penrose, was a surrealist painter and a biographer of Picasso. Penrose's older brother Oliver became a mathematics professor, while his younger brother Jonathan, a professor of psychology, was British chess champion ten times. As a boy, Penrose shared his father's interest in nature and geometrical puzzles. In school, he showed an aptitude for mathematics...