The Geometric Universe
The Geometric Universe. Science, Geometry and the Work of Roger Penrose Edited by S.A. Huggett and others. Oxford University Press 1998 [ISBN 0198500599]. Proceedings of the five day symposium Geometric Issues in the Foundations of Science held in Oxford in June 1996 to honor Professor Sir RogerPenrose in his 65th year.
There are certainly many more fiendish equations than in Penrose's populist books, mostly covering the many outworkings of twistors in pure maths and physics. Twistors were conceived by Penrose in the 1960s as a mathematical foundation for the much sought after unification of GeneralRelativity and QuantumMechanics. StuartHameroff and Abner Shimony also delve briefly into the biological and philosophical implications of Penrose's speculations on time and the human mind.
Some pretty inspiring things are said about Penrose's contribution to people and ideas in modern mathematics and physics by a number of first rate thinkers, including John Wheeler of Princeton, StephenHawking and MichaelAtiyah. Atiyah summarizes Penrose's contribution as follows:
- It is clear that Roger is in a real sense one of the original thinkers of our time. Although he is aware of the mainstream work in theoretical physics he is continuously branching out on his own. He thinks deeply and when he has an idea that he thinks is worth developing he pursues it tenaciously over many years.
- These days most physicists follow the latest band-wagon, usually within microseconds. Roger steers his own path and eschews band-wagons. He may not always be right but it is important that we have individuals who stick to their guns. Future progress with ideas, as in evolutionary genetics, depends on a sufficient stock so that some good ones will survive and prosper. Roger is one of those who are helping to diversify our "gene pool" of ideas.
- A close examination of Roger's work shows that he manages to combine genuine physical insight with the development of beautiful mathematical techniques to go alongside. It is this close harmony of the physics and mathematics which persuades him that he is onto something worthwhile. He has been proved right in the past and will, I hope, be proved right in the future.
Where is the above from?
From the book TheGeometricUniverse, strangely enough. -- RichardDrake