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Kip Thorne

Kip S. Thorne

The Science of Interstellar Illustrated Edition

by Kip Thorne (Author), Christopher Nolan (Foreword)

4.7 2,035 ratings

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A journey through the otherworldly science behind Christopher Nolan’s award-winning film, Interstellar, from executive producer and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Kip Thorne.

Interstellar, from acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, takes us on a fantastic voyage far beyond our solar system. Yet in The Science of Interstellar, Kip Thorne, the Nobel prize-winning physicist who assisted Nolan on the scientific aspects of Interstellar, shows us that the movie’s jaw-dropping events and stunning, never-before-attempted visuals are grounded in real science. Thorne shares his experiences working as the science adviser on the film and then moves on to the science itself. In chapters on wormholes, black holes, interstellar travel, and much more, Thorne’s scientific insights―many of them triggered during the actual scripting and shooting of Interstellar―describe the physical laws that govern our universe and the truly astounding phenomena that those laws make possible.

Interstellar and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s14).

200 color illustrations

ISBN-10

9780393351378
ISBN-13

978-0393351378
Edition

Illustrated
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

November 7, 2014
Language

English
Dimensions

7.8 x 0.8 x 10 inches
Print length

336 pages
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About the Author

Kip Thorne, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics Emeritus at Caltech, is the author of the bestselling books Black Holes and Time Warps and The Science of Interstellar. Thorne was an executive producer for the 2014 film Interstellar. For “bridging the worlds of science and the humanities,” Thorne received Rockefeller University’s Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science. He lives in Pasadena, California.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0393351378
Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (November 7, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780393351378
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393351378
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.97 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.8 x 0.8 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #24,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Film & Television
- #37 in Astrophysics & Space Science (Books)
- #45 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences

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4.7 2,035 ratings

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Kip S. Thorne
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Kip Thorne is the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics Emeritus at Caltech, an executive producer for Interstellar, and the author of books including the bestselling Black Holes and Time Warps. He lives in Pasadena, California.
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John Walker

The science behind the stunning images and events of the movie Interstellar

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2020

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Christopher Nolan's 2014 film Interstellar was eagerly awaited by science fiction enthusiasts who, having been sorely disappointed so many times by movies that crossed the line into fantasy by making up entirely implausible things to move the plot along, hoped that this effort would live up to its promise of getting the science (mostly) right and employing scientifically plausible speculation where our present knowledge is incomplete.

The author of the present book is one of the most eminent physicists working in the field of general relativity (Einstein's theory of gravitation) and a pioneer in exploring the exotic strong field regime of the theory, including black holes, wormholes, and gravitational radiation, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2017. Prof. Thorne was involved in the project which became Interstellar from its inception, and worked closely with the screenwriters, director, and visual effects team to get the science right. Some of the scenes in the movie, such as the visual appearance of orbiting a rotating black hole, have never been rendered accurately before, and are based upon original work by Thorne in computing light paths through spacetime in its vicinity subsequently published as professional papers.

Here, the author recounts the often bumpy story of the movie's genesis and progress over the years from his own, Hollywood-outsider, perspective, how the development of the story presented him, as technical advisor (he is credited as an executive producer), with problem after problem in finding a physically plausible solution, sometimes requiring him to do new physics. Then, Thorne provides a popular account of the exotic physics on which the story is based, including gravitational time dilation, black holes, wormholes, and speculative extra dimensions and “brane” scenarios stemming from string theory. Then he “interprets” the events and visual images in the film, explaining (where possible) how they could be produced by known, plausible, or speculative physics. Of course, this isn't always possible—in some cases the needs of story-telling or the requirement not to completely baffle a non-specialist with bewilderingly complicated and obscure images had to take priority over scientific authenticity, and when this is the case Thorne is forthright in admitting so.

Sections are labelled with icons identifying them as “truth”: generally accepted by those working in the field and often with experimental evidence, “educated guess”: a plausible inference from accepted physics, but without experimental evidence and assuming existing laws of physics remain valid in circumstances under which we've never tested them, and “speculation”: wild and wooly stuff (for example quantum gravity or the interior structure of a black hole) which violates no known law of physics, but for which we have no complete and consistent theory and no evidence whatsoever.

This is a clearly written and gorgeously illustrated book which, for those who enjoyed the movie but weren't entirely clear whence some of the stunning images they saw came, will explain the science behind them. The cover of the book has a “SPOILER ALERT” warning potential readers that the ending and major plot details are given away in the text. I will refrain from discussing them here so as not to make this a spoiler in itself. I read the book before seeing the movie, and when I did I enjoyed it more for having read the book, since I knew what to look for in some of the visuals and was less likely to dismiss some of the apparently outrageous occurrences by knowing that there is a physically plausible (albeit extremely speculative and improbable) explanation for them.

There are a few typographical errors and one factual howler: Io is not “Saturn's closest moon”, and Cassini was captured in Saturn orbit by a propulsion burn, not a gravitational slingshot (this does not affect the movie in any way: it's in background material).

24 people found this helpful

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Great complicated movie..book goes very deep into the science of it...but I mean deep:)

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2023

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Much to be curious about after watching the film. A detailed account of the real and created science behind the story. I'm self learning physics and while that helped, this book is properly demanding to digest.
It seems like a PHD exam..even with the answers..it's a hike. I did a little at a time to keep interest and avoid burn out. Not a book for everyone.

3 people found this helpful

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Brendan Abrego

Awesome Review

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2023

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This book is actually really interesting I was trying to seem smart to my friends by explaining someo of the stuff to my friends. But I couldn't explain soemthing that is too complex so I just made some stuff up to seem smart but other than that it's a very good book.

2 people found this helpful

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iank

Do you know what the event horizon of a black hole is?

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2014

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The imagery in Christopher Nolan's movie Interstellar is breathtaking in IMAX. One of the most memorable scenes is of the massive black hole named Gargantua. In this scene we view something that mankind will not see in reality in the foreseeable future.

In Kit Thorne's book the reader learns that in making the movie Nolan stayed as close to known science and scientific speculation as possible. This science can be difficult, but Thorne writes well and provides a number of diagrams that illustrate the points he is making.

Prof. Thorne worked on the movie from it's early beginnings in 2005, when Christopher Nolan's brother Jonathan worked on the early screen play. At one time Steven Spielberg was slated to direct the movie. We can be glad that he dropped out, because he would not have made the breathtaking movie that Nolan did.

Thorne covers the science from the beginning of the movie to the end, where Cooper falls through the black hole into the tesseract structure. As Thorne warns at the start of the book, some sections can be heavy going. If you don't know what an event horizon is, the book may be especially difficult.

What makes black holes so difficult is that their physics is far outside any normal experience.

For example, at the end of the movie, Cooper, in one of the landing craft, falls into the black hole. In a massive black hole the tidal forces (the difference in gravity between your toes and the top of your head) are small so he can survive the trip across the event horizon.

Thorne mentions several times in the book that as an object approaches the event horizon, time, relative to the rest of the universe, slows toward infinity. To the outside observer, an object becomes trapped at the event horizon (although it cannot be seen). What is hard to understand is that the object, in its own frame of reference, does cross the event horizon.

Thorne does not succeed in fully explaining exactly what is happening in this strange region that is outside of our universe. For example, looking out of the hole, in the direction he is falling, does Cooper see all of time come to an end? How fast is he traveling? If he orbits just below the event horizon, is he traveling near the speed of light? Why, exactly, is it so important that Cooper intersect the out falling singularity? Simply stating that this is "historical light" is not an obvious explanation.

I suspect that the problem is that many of the answers to these questions exist in mathematical equations, which are Thorne's old friends, since he has spent a lifetime with them.

These complexities make the book both fascinating and difficult at the same time. Einstein once said that ideas should be as simple as possible, but no simpler. Thorne is dealing with complex material and has done a good job of trying to live up to Einstein's dictum.

39 people found this helpful

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Peter Szekely

Fascinating

Reviewed in Germany on May 11, 2023

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I got this book for our daughter as Interstellar is one of her favorite movies. The book is fascinating, very well written and illustrated. Once I started reading it, I had a difficult time putting it down.

GC

Un libro stupendo, se avete amato Interstellar non potete perderlo

Reviewed in Italy on May 14, 2016

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Da anni ormai mi interesso a livello non professionale di astrofisica, leggendo autori divulgativi come Brian Greene o Caleb Sharf, e quando ho visto Interstellar sono rimasto a bocca aperta quasi per tutta la durata del film. Ho comprato quindi questo libro senza pensarci due volte, e ciò che ho avuto per le mani ha superato di gran lunga le aspettative. Ho apprezzato moltissimo la capacità di affrontare tutte le tematiche del film, dal viaggio interstellare, all'utilizzo di Wormhole per raggiungere punti remoti dell'universo, a tutti gli altri interrogativi che emergono nella pellicola, specificando all'inizio di ogni sezione se si tratta di una verità scientifica assodata, un'ipotesi "educata" o una semplice speculazione. Ci sono molti aspetti che nel film, dedicato ad un'audience amplissima e non per forza appassionata di astrofisica, vengono sorvolati e si potrebbe pensare che gli autori non vi hanno riflettuto sopra a lungo, ma hanno semplificato senza troppe difficoltà: leggendo questo libro invece si capisce come Kip Thorne, Christopher Nolan e tutto lo staff di Interstellar hanno dedicato giorni se non settimane per capire come spiegare scientificamente, o quantomeno con delle ipotesi plausibili, ciò che accade nel film (ad esempio l'Endurance che sfrutta una fionda gravitazionale di un piccolo buco nero per manovrare attorno all'enorme buco nero Gargantua, non trattato nel film se non con qualche riferimento leggero). Sono narrati fatti che possono accadere con possibilità prossima allo zero, come ammette anche Kip Thorne in alcuni casi, ma sono scientificamente plausibili, non è il classico film fantascientifico tutto campato per aria da come si può vedere dal background presente in questo libro.

Guardate il film PRIMA di leggere questo libro, leggetelo e poi riguarderete il film cercando di carpire ogni singolo messaggio "lanciato" da Nolan per darci spunti su queste profonde riflessioni che sono avvenute nel "backstage" del film.

Il libro è in lingua inglese ma se la masticate un po' (a livello delle superiori) lo affronterete senza problemi.

Concludo con alcuni link a libri che ho letto, sempre di carattere divulgativo, che sapranno farvi sognare come Interstellar e questo libro:

- Amedeo Balbi: Cercatori di meraviglia. Storie di grandi scienziati curiosi del mondo , una lettura piacevole e molto scorrevole che tenterà di trasmettervi dall'inizio all fine questo senso di Meraviglia che ha guidato decine di scienziati, le menti più eccelse mai esistite, e che dovrebbe guidare ognuno di noi.

- Brian Greene: L'Universo Elegante sulla Teoria delle Stringhe, La trama del cosmo. Spazio, tempo, realtà e La realtà nascosta. Universi paralleli e leggi profonde del cosmo

- Caleb Sharf: I Motori della Gravità sui buchi neri e il ruolo fondamentale di creatori e distruttori che hanno rivestito nella creazione del nostro universo. Uno dei libri divulgativi più affascinanti che io abbia mai letto.

- Lucia Votano: Il Fantasma dell'Universo. Che Cos'è il Neutrino

- Leon Lederman e Christopher Hill: Oltre la particella di Dio: La fisica del XXI secolo sul Bosone di Higgs (ho letto altri libri in merito e questo è uno dei più chiari e piacevoli da leggere)

- Richard Feynman: QED. La strana teoria della luce e della materia , una lettura che vi farà affrontare l'elettrodinamica quantistica in modo semplice e coinvolgente, anche se non siete 'addetti ai lavori'. Le capacità divulgative di Feynman sono eccezionali, lui sì che vi farà meravigliare senza alcun dubbio.

39 people found this helpful

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Callum

Life-changing book that anyone can read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2023

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I'll preface this by saying you really don't need to be a genius to get a lot out of this book, but a decent understanding of physics helps to make this an easier read - I only have a basic education and I loved and understood it all.
This book is the perfect combination of story-telling and science; Kip Thorn does an incredible job of breaking up the technical talk with real-life events to do with the movie. He explains things so simply and in an easy-to-read format.
The content itself genuinely has the potential to change how you understand the world around you - I loved every page of this book and would jump at any opportunity to talk about it!

3 people found this helpful

The Readulator

Challenging Concepts Written Well

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2023

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Feels like an undercurrent of bragging by the author, but the science is explained decently enough, although I’ve seen clearer explanations. I like the tie in to the film though. The book definitely enhances one’s viewing experience.

One person found this helpful

Ralf Callenberg

Beeindruckendes Buch

Reviewed in Germany on November 18, 2014

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Dieses Buch wurde von einem der führenden Physiker auf dem Gebiet der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie und Astrophysik geschrieben.

Kip Thorne hat die Entstehung des Filmes von einem frühen Zeitpunkt an begleitet und war der wissenschaftliche Berater. So schildert er die Wissenschaft hinter Interstellar zum Einen aus der Insider-Perspektive, da letztlich auf seinen Kenntnissen fast die gesamten wissenschaftlichen Aspekte in dem Film zurückgreifen. Aber er kommentiert auch als Zuschauer die Details, für die er nicht die Verantwortung trug, und die er dann einer kritischen Betrachtung unterzieht. Dazu holt er weit aus, führt den Leser in gekrümmte Raumzeit und die Physik Schwarzer Löcher ein. Das wendet sich natürlich an den Laien, ist aber durchaus anspruchsvoll und geht teilweise sehr tief (es werden sogar Übungsfragen eingestreut!). Selbst als Physiker kann man hier noch einiges dazulernen. Glücklicherweise ist Thorne ein erfahrener Autor (auch von populärwissenschaftlichen Büchern), so dass er es schafft, den Leser mitzunehmen.

Jeder Abschnitt ist gekennzeichnet, je nachdem ob es sich um gesichertes Wissen, "educated guesses" oder Spekulation handelt. Dabei wird dem Leser vermittelt, wie man von dem gesicherten Wissen zur Spekulation gelangt. Dabei bewegt sich das Buch insgesamt von den eher gesicherten Erkenntnissen hin zur "extremen Physik" an der Grenze unseres Wissens. An verschiedenen Stellen wird dabei auch geschildert, wo es Christopher Nolan bewusst nicht ganz so genau nahm, und aus welchen Beweggründen.

Der wissenschafltiche Teil alleine macht das Buch bereits sehr lesenswert. Aber der Blick eines Außenseiters hinter die Kulissen der Filmproduktion ist ebenfalls sehr spannend. Man erfährt zuächst einiges über die Entstehungsgeschichte. Aber richtig faszinierend ist dann die Schilderung des Aufwandes, den die Macher des Filmes in die Darstellung der wissenschaftlichen Phänomäne steckten. Angefangen bei einem Blatt Papier, das nur in einer Szene auf dem Tisch liegt, auf dem dennoch sinnvolle "Messwerte" stehen, über die Tafelbilder mit durchdachten Gleichungen bishin zu den unglaublichen Bildern des Schwarzen Loches, basierend auf umfangreichen numerischen Lösungen der Einsteinschen Feldgleichungen. Letzteres hat es in der Form noch nie in irgendeinem Spielfilm gegeben. Die korrekte Darstellung der Gravitationslinsen-Effekte ist in der Detailtreue sogar wissenschaftliches Neuland. Selbst einige Effekte innerhalb des Schwarzen Lochs beruhen auf veröffentlichten Erkenntnissen und sind keine reine Erfindung. Immer wieder werden dem Leser detailliert Überlegungen dazu präsentiert, welche Masse das Schwarze Loch haben muss, wie schnell es sich dreht, wie die Bahnen der Planeten verlaufen und wie wohl die Flugmanöver der Raumfahrzeuge aussehen mögen.

Nicht alles, was der Film darstellt, ist wirklich wissenschaftlich völlig korrekt. Aber man sollte alle dahingehenden Kritiken sehr skeptisch betrachten, denn oftmals steckt dahinter schlichtweg mangelndes Verständnis für die komplexen Zusammenhänge. Selbst Experten können aus dem Stegreif ohne eine konkrete Rechnung nicht immer erfassen, ob das, was da zu sehen ist, auch wirklich sein kann.

Von dem Film war ich zunächst nicht so angetan (und er hat tatsächliche seine Schwächen), aber nach der Lektüre dieses Buches wuchs mein Respekt vor dem, was man zu sehen bekam, sehr deutlich - so dass ich ihn mir unbedingt ein zweites Mal anschauen werde. Jedem, der sich für Science Fiction - als auch für Science interessiert, sei dieses Buch ausdrücklich empfohlen (allerdings besser *nachdem* man den Film gesehen hat...). Es ist eine mitreissende Lektüre von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite. Sie vermittelt die Begeisterung für die Wissenschaft als auch für die Herstellung dieses Filmes. Abgerundet wird das Buch durch kommentierte Literaturempfehlungen, für all diejenigen, die auf den Geschmack gekommen sind.

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