Having thoroughly enjoyed The Emperor's New Mind and Shadows of the Mind, I was looking forward to this book by Roger Penrose. I was initially slightly intimidated by the book when it arrived: it looked suspiciously like one of those textbooks that I'd had to wade through years ago. But I need not have worried. The book is a model of clarity, and you do not need to be put off by the equations.<br><br>Roger Penrose is a member of a prodigiously talented family and a former collaborator of Stephen Hawking. He has a remarkable ability for explaining complex concepts, and his passion for his subject shines through.<br><br>I think that many people will be surprised at the amount of progress that has been made toward a comprehensive model of the physical universe. Penrose is extremely good at connecting the dots: showing how different areas of mathematics fit together. Just over twenty years ago I was asked to give a lecture about the brain and consciousness to a lay audience. During the question and answer session, I was asked something that set a group of us off in a new direction. "Why," I was asked, "Are these models complicated? Any true insights into the natural world should be simple enough for a child to understand." Is that really true, I wondered? Is it really possible to reduce the brain or the physical universe to a small number of ideas that could be explained in a high school textbook? The answer is, I think, no. And certainly on the evidence of Roger Penrose's book, the universe is multi-layered, and we need some sophistication to understand it.<br><br>This book does require intellectual effort, but it is well worth it. A bit of brain stretching is good for all of us! Unless you are a die hard math or physics buff, I recommend reading the book in small bite size chunks and contemplating what you have learned. That way it almost becomes a daily meditation. After a little while, you will probably find yourself looking forward to the next installment.<br><br>This is a book to which you want to return, and I think that it will be remembered as a classic long after many popular science books have been remaindered.<br><br>Highly recommended.