Unexpected Simplicity with Patchen Barss

Video Description

From quantum technologies to space exploration, today’s ideas are shaping tomorrow’s world. Get the latest discoveries, insights, and breakthroughs delivered straight to your inbox: https://landing.perimeterinstitute.ca/newsletter-signup Scientists working at the frontiers of theoretical physics are often required to push their imaginations into realms far beyond everyday experience and intuition. How does one imagine what the universe looks like to a photon, diagram the internal structure of a black hole, or explain how our universe came to exist in the first place? Drawing on his acclaimed recent biography of British Mathematical physicist Roger Penrose, The Impossible Man, journalist and author Patchen Barss explores the sources of scientific inspiration, paths to creativity, and creation of new ideas that continue to revolutionize our understanding and appreciation of physical reality. About the Speaker: 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. The New York Times said, “This biography depicts Sir Roger in multiple dimensions; only a writer as psychologically astute as Barss could show us an impossible man in full.” Barss was the 2021-2022 Sloan Biography Fellow at CUNY’s Graduate Center. He has contributed to Nautilus Magazine, Scientific American, the BBC, and The Walrus, as well as the National Post, Toronto Star, and Montreal Gazette. He has been a producer at CBC Television and the Discovery Channel, and is the former Head of Research and Development for the documentary film company CineNova, and is a former Director of Communications at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.