If you have somebody who's brilliant and highly creative with a different point of view than you have, and a very different intellectual background, great things can happen.
Kip ThorneRead
We're going to need a definitive quantum theory of gravity, which is part of a grand unified theory - it's the main missing piece.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A complete understanding of gravity is essential for unifying physics into a comprehensive theory.
Kip Thorne emphasizes the necessity of developing a definitive quantum theory of gravity as a critical component for establishing a grand unified theory in physics. This implies that without a robust understanding of how gravity operates at quantum levels, the quest for a cohesive framework explaining all fundamental forces and particles remains incomplete.
Themes
QuantumGravityTheoryScienceUnification
In practice
Example use cases
In a physics seminar discussing the future of theoretical physics.
More from Kip Thorne
All quotes βI think that the future of the human race is to spread through the universe, and now is the time that we should be laying the foundations for that.
Kip ThorneRead
Whether you can go back in time is held in the grip of the law of quantum gravity.
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'Closed timelike curve' is the jargon for time travel. It means you go out, come back and meet yourself in the past.
Kip ThorneRead
If you think that the distance from the Earth to the nearest planet where we could live comfortably... is being, like, from New York to Australia... what we've achieved so far, in going to the moon, that's about two-and-a-half inches. So that's the challenge.
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A big misconception is that a black hole is made of matter that has just been compacted to a very small size. That's not true. A black hole is made from warped space and time.
Kip ThorneRead
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I had a feeling once about Mathematics - that I saw it all. Depth beyond depth was revealed to me - the Byss and Abyss. I saw - as one might see the transit of Venus or even the Lord Mayor's Show - a quantity passing through infinity and changing its sign from plus to minus. I saw exactly why it happened and why the tergiversation was inevitable but it was after dinner and I let it go.
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