About

Patchen Barss is a Toronto-based science journalist, author, and speaker. His biography, The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius, was named one of the top science and technology books for 2024 by Kirkus Reviews, The Financial Times, and The Telegraph. It tells the story of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who would prove the limitations of general relativity and astound colleagues with the elegance and beauty of his discoveries. But success came at a price, and through years of research and interviews and previously unopened archives, Barss presents a moving portrait of the scientist and the human being, and asks who gets to be a genius, and who makes the sacrifices for that to happen.

Moderated by Deborah Dundas

The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius

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Patchen Barss

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. 

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Credit Vincenzo Pietropaolo