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Kip S. Thorne

Theoretical Physicist

Kip Thorne is a co-founder of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which made the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015. That detection confirmed a key prediction of Einstein’s general relativity and earned Dr. Thorne the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Rainer Weiss and Barry Barish.  A longtime Caltech professor, Dr. Thorne has advanced understanding of black holes, wormholes, and spacetime, and served as scientific advisor and executive producer for Christoher Nolan’s film Interstellar (2014) and science consultant on Tenet (2020), blending scientific rigor with imagination to explore the universe’s most profound mysteries.

With John A. Wheeler and Charles W. Misner, Dr. Thorne co-authored in 1973 the textbook Gravitation, from which most of the present generation of scientists have learned general relativity. He is also a co-author of Gravitation Theory and Gravitational Collapse (1965) and Black Holes: The Membrane Paradigm (1986), and the sole author of the worldwide best-seller, Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy (1994), among many other publications.

Past Programs Featuring Kip S. Thorne

Friday, December 5, 2025 | 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Thursday, June 2, 2016 | 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Friday, June 4, 2010 | 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Thursday, June 3, 2010 | 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | 8:00 am - 10:00 am

Participants