Trained as a mathematician, Sir Roger Penrose is better known for his work in cosmology, including his theory of "cosmic censorship", which suggests that no naked singularities other than the Big Bang exist or can exist in the universe.

His contributions to relativity theory have been described as second only to Albert Einstein's, and he has argued extensively that human consciousness is impossible without quantum mechanics.

He is also known for an innovative tiling of the affine plane, now called the Penrose tiling, and for his description of a mechanism to extract energy from a Kerr black hole.

In collaboration with Stephen Hawking he identified the basic distinguishing characteristics of black holes, and shared the 1988 Wolf Prize for Physics.

Andrew Taylor (b. 1951) is a British author of mysteries. Born in East Anglia, he attended university at Cambridge before getting an MA in library sciences from University College London. His first novel, Caroline Miniscule (1982), a modern-day treasure hunt starring history student William Dougal, began an eight-book series and won Taylor wide critical acclaim.

He has written several other thriller series, most notably the eight Lydmouthbooks, which begin with An Air That Kills (1994). His other novels include The Office of the Dead (2000) and The American Boy (2003), both of which won the Crime Writers’ Association of Britain’s Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award, making Taylor the only author to receive the prize twice.

His Roth trilogy, which has been published in omnibus form as Requiem for an Angel (2002), was adapted by the UK’s ITV for its television show Fallen Angel. Taylor’s most recent novel is the historical thriller The Scent of Death (2013).

Michael Heller is Professor of Real Estate Law and former Vice Dean for Intellectual Life at Columbia Law School.

One of the world's leading authorities on ownership, he is the author of The Gridlock Economy.