An enthralling and moving biography of the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician and physicist, which explores his complex personal life alongside his astonishing scientific journey.

In 1937, Roger Penrose and his father discovered a sundial in a clearing behind their house in Colchester. In that machine made of light, shadow and time, six-year-old Roger discovered a 'world behind the world' of transcendently beautiful geometry. He had begun a journey that would make him one of the past century's most influential mathematicians, philosophers and physicists. He received a Nobel Prize, a knighthood and dozens of other prestigious honours. He proved the limitations of general relativity and set a new agenda for theoretical physics. But success came at a price as he struggled to connect with friends, family and especially the women in his life. He has spent his final years alone with his research, intentionally cut off from the people who loved him. Compelling and deeply moving, The Impossible Man intimately depicts the relationship between Penrose the scientist and Roger the human being. It reveals the tragic cost - to himself and those closest to him - for his extraordinary life.