Alan Lightman
Alan Paige Lightman (born November 28, 1948) is an American physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur. He has served on the faculties of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is currently a professor of the practice of the humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Alan Lightman | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 28, 1948 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) California Institute of Technology (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics Creative writing |
| Institutions | Professor of the Practice of the Humanities, MIT Founder and Chairman of Harpswell |
| Thesis | I. Time-dependent accretion disks around compact objects. II. Theoretical frameworks for analyzing and testing gravitation theories (1974) |
| Doctoral advisor | Kip S. Thorne |
Lightman was one of the first persons at MIT to hold a joint faculty position in both the sciences and the humanities. His thinking and writing explore the intersection of the sciences and humanities, especially the multilogues among science, philosophy, religion, and spirituality.
Lightman is the author of the international bestseller Einstein's Dreams. and his novel The Diagnosis was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the founder of Harpswell, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance a new generation of women leaders in Southeast Asia.
Lightman hosts the public-television series Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science.
He has received six honorary doctoral degrees.