From his famous venture with Stephen Hawking on the nature of black holes to working with NASA, Kip Thorne is credited with bringing forward some of Albert Einstein’s most exciting ideas about gravity and general relativity.
In 2014, Thorne was thrust into the spotlight as serious science and popular culture collided in the blockbuster film “Interstellar,” where he served as executive producer and science advisor.
Thorne was a professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology until 2009, when he resigned to pursue a career in writing and filmmaking. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017, along with colleagues Rainer Weiss and Barry C. Barish. His work on gravitational waves revolutionized our ability to detect cosmic events, such as the collision of massive black holes.
At a special event at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on Friday 10 May, Thorne will discuss his life and work with physicist Jim Al-Khalili. Tickets are now available here.
The conversation will be wide-ranging: From Thorne’s early years in Utah and how he fell in love with astronomy, to how he created—with colleagues—gravitational wave astronomy. His controversial theory that wormholes could conceivably be used for time travel was the plot line of “Interstellar” and brought scientific theory to a wider audience.
Now writing poetry, the American scholar is not slowing down. In his new Book, “The Warped Side of our Universe,” he collaborates with artist Lia Halloran to bring to life through vivid illustrations and paintings all the memorizing and conceptual astrophysical discoveries and speculations he has talked about over the years of his scientific research.
The Jim Meets series of events was established by the University of Surrey more than 10 years ago, and has featured a variety of popular public figures. Guests have included Sir David Attenborough, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Brian Cox, Dara O’Brien, Ruby Wax and many more.
Jim Al-Khalili is Professor of Physics and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey. A theoretical physicist, author and presenter, he has presented the BBC Radio 4 program ‘The Life Scientific’ since 2011.
This event is funded by the multi-institutional research project “Life on the Edge”, which was made possible by a philanthropic grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
To find out more, or to book your tickets, visit the website here.
