Janna Levin
{{Short description|American theoretical cosmologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Janna Levin
| image = Beyond the Cradle 2019 Janna Levin (47422163091).jpg
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| caption = Levin in 2019
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1967|}}
| birth_place = Texas, U.S.
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| fields = {{ubl|Cosmology|Black holes|Gravitational waves}}
| workplaces = Barnard College
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| alma_mater = {{ubl|Barnard College {{small|1988}}|Massachusetts Institute of Technology {{small|1993}}}}
| thesis_title = MAD Gravity and the Early Universe: a Possible New Resolution to the Horizon and Monopole Problems
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| thesis_year = 1993
| doctoral_advisor = Katherine Freese
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| known_for = A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines
| awards = Guggenheim Fellow {{small|2012}}
| children = 2
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}}
Janna J. Levin (born 1967) is an American theoretical cosmologist and a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in astronomy and physics with a concentration in philosophy at Barnard College in 1988 and a PhD in theoretical physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993.{{cite web|last=Bastek|first=Stephanie|date=April 19, 2016|title=Black Hole Blues|url=https://theamericanscholar.org/black-hole-blues/|access-date=October 14, 2021|website=The American Scholar|publisher=Phi Beta Kappa Society}} Much of her work deals with looking for evidence to support the proposal that our universe might be finite in size due to its having a nontrivial topology.{{cite web |last=Levin |first=Janna |title=In space, do all roads lead to home? |url=http://plus.maths.org/issue10/features/topology/ |date=January 1, 2000|magazine=Plus Magazine |accessdate=9 August 2012}} Other work includes black holes and chaos theory. She joined the faculty at Barnard College in January 2004 and is currently the Claire Tow Professor of Physics and Astronomy.
Biography
Levin was born to Yiddish-speaking Jewish parents in Texas.{{Cite web|title=Levin, Janna|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/levin-janna|access-date=2021-10-14|website=Encyclopedia.com}} Her grandparents were immigrants from Eastern Europe, who eventually gave up keeping kosher.{{Cite web|last1=Levin|first1=Janna|last2=Tippett|first2=Krista|date=January 10, 2008|title=Mathematics, Purpose, and Truth|url=https://onbeing.org/programs/janna-levin-mathematics-purpose-and-truth/|access-date=2021-10-14|website=On Being|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Kaufman|first=Eli|date=May 17, 2016|title=Janna Levin and Black Hole Blues|url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/janna-levin-and-black-hole-blues/|access-date=2021-10-14|website=Times of Israel - Blogs|language=en-US}} She describes her household as mostly not religious (Levin was not brought to synagogue and was not bat mitzvahed). Levin attended Columbia University for her bachelor's degree and MIT for her Ph.D, graduating in 1993. In 2002 she held a research fellowship at Cambridge University (England)."Cosmic girl's chaos theory" by Anjana Ahuja, The Times (London) part 2, February 11, 2002, page 10
Janna Levin is a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University with a grant from the Tow Foundation. She researches black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. In addition she is the director of sciences at Pioneer Works.{{cite web|last1=Levin|first1=Jenna|title=Bio|url=http://jannalevin.com/bio-and-contact/|accessdate=14 January 2018}}{{cite web|title=Janna Levin|url=https://www.barnard.edu/profiles/janna-levin|publisher=Barnard College|accessdate=14 January 2018}}
Levin is the author of the popular science book How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space. In 2006, she published A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, a novel of ideas recounting the lives and deaths of Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing.{{cite journal |last=Myerson |first=Sylvie |title=Janna Levin in conversation with Sylvie Myerson |journal=Brooklyn Rail |date=September 2007 |url=http://brooklynrail.org/2007/09/express/janna-levin-with-sylvie-myerson}}
Levin has written a series of essays to accompany exhibitions at several galleries in England, including the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art and the Hayward Gallery.{{cite web|url=http://www.jannalevin.com/art.html |title=The Office of Janna Levin: Art |publisher=Janna Levin |accessdate=2012-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308174733/http://www.jannalevin.com/art.html |archive-date=2012-03-08 }} Levin was featured on Talk of the Nation on July 12, 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.jannalevin.com/interviews.html |title=The Office of Janna Levin: Video + Audio |publisher=Janna Levin |accessdate=2012-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903061838/http://www.jannalevin.com/interviews.html |archive-date=2012-09-03 }} She appeared as a guest on Stephen Colbert's Comedy Central show The Colbert Report on August 24, 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/73484/august-24-2006/janna-levin |title=Janna Levin – The Colbert Report |work=Comedy Central |publisher=Viacom |date=2006-08-24 |accessdate=2012-08-10}} She also appeared as the featured guest on the Speaking of Faith radio show on February 22, 2009, where she discussed her book A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines with the show's host Krista Tippett.{{cite web|url=http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/mathandtruth/index.shtml |title=Mathematics, Purpose, and Truth | On Being |work=Speaking of Faith |date=2012-05-31 |accessdate=2012-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705022302/http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/mathandtruth/index.shtml |archive-date=2010-07-05 }}
Levin presented "The sound the universe makes" on TED.com on March 1, 2011.{{cite web |url=http://blog.ted.com/2011/03/15/the-sound-the-universe-makes-janna-levin-on-ted-com/ |title=The sound the universe makes: Janna Levin on TED.com |publisher=TED Blog |date=2011-03-15 |accessdate=2012-08-10}} She was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.jannalevin.com/bio.html |title=The Office of Janna Levin: Bio + Photos |publisher=Janna Levin |accessdate=2012-09-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529060256/http://www.jannalevin.com/bio.html |archive-date=2012-05-29 }}
Her book Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space was published in March, 2016. The book is about the history of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and the 2015 discovery of gravitational waves.{{cite web|last=Bastek|first=Stephanie|date=April 19, 2016|title=Black Hole Blues|url=https://theamericanscholar.org/black-hole-blues/#.WW9872NstHg|website=The American Scholar|publisher=Phi Beta Kappa Society}} In a review of the book published in The Wall Street Journal, British astrophysicist John Gribbin wrote, "This is a splendid book that I recommend to anyone with an interest in how science works and in the power of human imagination and ability."{{cite news | last =Gribbin | first =John | title =A Billion Year-Old Postcard: The collision of two black holes produced more than a trillion times the power of a billion Suns.| newspaper = Wall Street Journal| date =March 25, 2016 | url =https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-billion-year-old-postcard-1458933723| accessdate =March 25, 2016 }} In January 2018 she hosted Nova's award-winning episode "Black Hole Apocalypse."{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/black-hole-hunter-janna-levin.html |title=Black Hole Hunter: Janna Levin |website=PBS |date=January 10, 2018 }}
Personal life
File:Jonathan Nolan and Janna Levin at the Sundance Film Festival 2024-9375.jpg
Levin did not officially graduate from high school, as she was in a serious car accident and hospitalized for a time.
Levin is the parent of two children, a son born in 2004 and a daughter born in 2007. Her partner, Warren, is a musician."Cosmic girl's chaos theory" by Anjana Ahuja, The Times (London) part 2, February 11, 2002, page 10
Bibliography
- How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space, Orion Publishing Group, 2002
- A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, Anchor, 2009
- Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, Knopf, 2016
- Black Hole Survival Guide, Knopf, 2020
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{wikiquote-inline}}
- {{Official website|http://www.jannalevin.com/}}
- [https://themoth.org/stories/life-on About her personal life] and marriage with Warren Malone, including pictures. (The Moth Radio website).
- {{TED speaker}}: [https://www.ted.com/talks/janna_levin_the_sound_the_universe_makes "The Sound The Universe Makes"]
- {{IMDb name|2373387}}
- {{C-SPAN|1000215}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Janna}}
Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge
Category:21st-century American physicists
Category:Barnard College faculty
Category:Barnard College alumni
Category:American cosmologists
Category:American theoretical physicists
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:Jewish American scientists
Category:American women academics
Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Category:Columbia University alumni