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Kip Thorne

Kip Stephen Thorne (born June 1, 1940) is an American theoretical physicist and writer known for his contributions in gravitational physics and astrophysics. Along with Rainer Weiss and Barry C. Barish, he was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.[3][4][5][6]

the (1972)[43]

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

the ,

National Academy of Sciences

the , and

Russian Academy of Sciences

the .

American Philosophical Society

Thorne has been elected to:[42]


He has been recognized by numerous awards including:


He has been a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Danforth Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, and Fulbright Fellow. He has also received the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from Claremont Graduate University and an honorary doctorate from the Physics Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.


He was elected to hold the Lorentz chair for the year 2009 Leiden University, the Netherlands.


Thorne has served on:


Kip Thorne was selected by Time magazine in an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the American world in 2016.[52]

Thorne contributed ideas on wormhole travel to for use in his novel Contact.[53]

Carl Sagan

Thorne and his friend, producer , also developed the concept for the Christopher Nolan film Interstellar.[54] He also wrote a tie-in book, The Science of Interstellar. Thorne later advised Nolan on the physics of his movie Tenet,[55] and advised Cillian Murphy on his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer in Nolan's film Oppenheimer.[56]

Lynda Obst

In 's novel Rainbow Mars, the time travel technology used in the novel is based on the wormhole theories of Thorne, which in the context of the novel was when time travel first became possible, rather than just fantasy. As a result, any attempts to travel in time prior to Thorne's development of wormhole theory results in the time traveller entering a fantastic version of reality, rather than the actual past.[57]

Larry Niven

In the film , Thorne was portrayed by actor Enzo Cilenti.[58]

The Theory of Everything

Thorne played himself in the episode of entitled "The Laureate Accumulation".

The Big Bang Theory

Thorne is featured in an episode of the documentary series entitled "Science, Art & Inspiration".

The Craftsman