• Patchen Barss "The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius"

  • Apr 9 2025
  • Length: 47 mins
  • Podcast

Patchen Barss "The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius"

Listen for free

View show details

  • Summary

  • In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Patchen Barss chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius, the biography of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose.

    Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

    • Patchen Barss’s painstaking research strategy
    • How Patchen grasped complicated information about quantum physics and mathematics
    • How he crafted erudite, poetic and propulsive narrative from seemingly incomprehensible scientific information and mathematical equations
    • How he balanced Roger Penrose’s scientific, public, personal and inner lives to craft a kaleidoscopic portrait of an extraordinary human being
    • How he represented Roger’s relationship difficulties truthfully and with sensitivity and dignity
    • How Patchen navigated the perils of writing about a 93-year-old living subject who has a strong autobiographical voice
    • Patchen’s response to the question: ‘Who gets to be a genius, and who makes the sacrifices that allow an individual to be one?’
    Show More Show Less
Show More Show Less
activate_mytile_page_redirect_t1

What listeners say about Patchen Barss "The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius"

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.