When you meet your heroes

‘Never meet your heroes’ is the oft-quoted mantra, clearly implying that they’ll disappoint you if by chance (or otherwise) your paths cross. Now maybe I’ve just been lucky, but I’ve managed to meet my heroes (albeit fleetingly) in three of the major categories (music, sport and science) and they’ve all been magic memorable moments. Continue reading

Of Oxford, Penrose and an OHP

Back in the late 1970s I decided to go back to university and study more mathematics, as I felt that my brain was dying. I was necessarily employed at the time, so undertook Maths Honours part-time over a couple of years. My favourite subject was Geometry, and I well remember being introduced to Penrose’s tiling of the plane, a discovery (invention?) that had us all in wonderment. Sir Roger Penrose has gone on to be one of the world’s leading scientists, most well known for his work in mathematical physics. Continue reading