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The University of Western Australia will host one of the world’s leading mathematical physicists for a fascinating exploration of what happened before the Big Bang.

Sir Roger Penrose was knighted in 1994 for his extraordinary service to science and is the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University.

Sir Roger was the first person to prove black holes can be created from a collapse of massive stars and the inventor of Penrose tiling – never-ending random patterns created from identical pairs of tiles. He is described as one of the world’s greatest thinkers on the origins of the universe.

The question of how and why the Big Bang happened is the “holy grail” of cosmological research.

Sir Roger has long been interested in the structure of the Big Bang and is known for presenting high-level mathematical ideas in accessible and relevant ways to the general public.

Tickets to his lecture - Ever Wondered What Happened Before the Big Bang? - are available from UWA Extension on 6488 2433 or online www.extension.uwa.edu.au for $29 (standard) and $15 (student). The lecture is at the Octagon Theatre from 7pm to 8.30pm on Tuesday, August 7.

As well as the UWA Extension Spring School lecture, Sir Roger will be involved in two other Perth events: the Big Questions for Bright Minds forum for school students at the Gravity Discovery Centre on Monday, August 6, and the signing of Penrose tiling artwork at UWA’s Molecular and Chemical Sciences Building on Tuesday, August 7, from 11.45am.

Media references

Helena Bogucki 61 8 6488 6820
(UWA Extension)

Simone Hewett / Francesca Robb 61 8 6488 7977
(UWA Public Affairs) 0420 790 097 / 0420 790 098