Lionel Sharples Penrose

Professor Lionel Penrose read mathematics at University but then Qualified in medicine at St Thomas Hospital. He is especially remembered for his work on mental deficiency and human genetics which he carried out chiefly at Colchester. For this research he was elected FRS in 1953. He was an inventor who made a series of wooden self-replicating machines and he devised all sorts of puzzles which required both manual and cerebral dexterity. Other recreations included chess. His wife Margaret (nee Leathes) was a founder member of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and edited their journal