Astronomy Biography: Kip Thorne

Kip Stephen Thorne is an American theoretical physicist. Kip was born on June 1 of 1940 in Logan Utah. His father was Wynne Thorne his mother was Alison C. Thorne. Both his parents were professors at Utah State University, teaching Soil Chemistry and Economics respectively. Naturally, the environment he was raised in was an academic one, and obviously shaped his career, as it did his 4 other siblings, two of which also became professors.

Kip received a B.S. from Caltech and a Ph.D. from Princeton, before returning to Caltech to become one of the youngest professors in the history of the college. He pursued the path of becoming a theoretical physics professor, and even became the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1991. Apparently he is very enthusiastic about the material he teaches, for the sources indicate he becomes very excitable while teaching. Kip specialized in research on black holes, worm holes, relativity, and gravitational radiation.

Kip is responsible for teaching and mentoring over 50 astrophysicists in his teaching career. His research is primarily focused on gravitational and astro-physics. This field includes black holes and gravitational waves. Kip is thought to be one of the leading experts on gravitational waves. He created LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), which measures fluctuations in distance from two static points, which would be direct evidence of gravitational waves.

Kip also studies wormholes, and believes that they can be used to achieve time travel. However, he also proved it would be impossible to travel backwards through time, since that a paradox caused by objects traveling through time would be impossible.