Inaugral Penrose Lecture
Mrs K. Coldwell, KS5 and G&T Leader, Maths, writes:
After a long postponement due to Professor Hawking’s ill health, four Stanborough students were able to attend the Inaugural Penrose Lecture on Quantum Black Holes, given by Stephen Hawking at the Mathematical Institute at Oxford University during the October half-term. Tawsif Chowdhury, Hannah Imafidon, Christopher Illes-Wilbourn and Joseph Lowton, all in Year 12, spent over two hours travelling to Oxford to hear the one-hour talk but all agreed that the journey was more than worth it for this once in a lifetime experience. The opportunity to hear renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking speak live on his own work with Roger Penrose and more recent work with others was the main draw of the event. Students also walked over Penrose tiles at the entrance to the Mathematical Institute, only to hear the introduction of Professor Hawking’s lecture given by his colleague, Sir Roger Penrose, as they sat in the Andrew Wiles building, directly behind Sir Andrew Wiles himself! So two of the most famous living British mathematicians were also part of the package! Such was the inspiration of this event and others like it, that Joseph Lowton made his own way to the public lecture which Andrew Wiles gave on the 28th November at the Science Museum in London.