Janna Levin

She has said she never studied math or physics in high school and has no high school diploma; she started college as a philosophy major before switching to physics.⁠[1]

Barnard’s alumnae magazine lists her as a member of the class of 1988 and quotes her as saying she came to science late.⁠[2]

She earned a B.A. in physics and astronomy from Barnard, with a concentration in philosophy, and later a Ph.D. in physics from MIT.⁠[3]

She conducted research at the Center for Particle Astrophysics (CfPA) at UC BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is a campus of the University of California system; the University of California was founded in 1868 through a merger of two institutions and moved to Berkeley, California, in 1873.Open the full entry and at the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at Cambridge University, and was the first scientist-in-residence at the Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing.⁠[4]

She had earlier worked at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics and later became an Advanced Fellow in Cambridge’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.⁠[5]

In the paper “Gravity Waves, Chaos, and Spinning Compact Binaries” she argued that spinning compact binaries are chaotic in the post-Newtonian expansion, making their gravitational waveforms during coalescence unpredictable and posing a challenge for observatories that rely on theoretical templates; it was published in Physical Review Letters in 2000.⁠[6]

In May 2000 the analysis drew coverage in the science press, when she was at the University of Cambridge in England.⁠[7]

Physicist Neil J. Cornish then published a comment arguing that the dynamics are no longer chaotic once higher-order dissipative effects are included, but that the evolution may still be unpredictable in a practical sense, and that its effect on detectors such as LIGO needed further study.⁠[8]

She published the review “Topology and the Cosmic Microwave Background,” discussing the mathematics of finite spaces and efforts to observe the finite extent of the universe in the cosmic background radiation.⁠[9]

How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space, written as a diary of unsent letters to her mother, describes what is known about the shape and extent of the universe; Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private university and Ivy League member in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered on October 22, 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and adopted its present name in 1896. Undergraduate education leads to A.B. and B.S.E. degrees and emphasizes small-group discussion, independent research and residential college life. Graduate education spans the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. As of October 2026, Christopher L. Eisgruber was president. Its 2026–27 operating budget was $3.407 billion, including $342 million for undergraduate aid.Open the full entry Press issued a new edition in January 2023.⁠[5]

She recalled writing her first book as a postdoc, when people close to her warned that doing so would keep her from getting a job as a scientist.⁠[1]

She joined the Barnard College faculty in January 2004; her research covers theories of the early universe, chaos and black holes, as well as the topology of the universe and whether it is infinite.⁠[4]

The novel, published by Knopf, centres on the mathematicians Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing and opens with Gödel as a young man in Vienna; a review found the author sympathetic to all concerned but said the book does not quite make a larger point.⁠[10]

The book won the PEN/Bingham Fellowship for Writers and was a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway award.⁠[11]

A programme hosted by Krista Tippett first aired her conversation “Mathematics, Purpose, and Truth” on January 10, 2008, covering her work on the shape of the universe and her novel about Gödel and Turing.⁠[12]

At TED2011 she gave the talk “The sound the universe makes,” arguing that the universe has a soundtrack that records some of the most dramatic events in outer space.⁠[13]

In April 2012, as an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship; Columbia’s announcement described her as a theoretical physicist and writer who integrates scientific themes into fiction and nonfiction.⁠[11]

In spring 2013 she took a sabbatical at the California Institute of Technology to continue studying black hole collisions and the resulting vibrations of spacetime.⁠[2]

In 2014 Pioneer Works founder Dustin Yellin invited her to stage a science talk; she proposed an unprepared onstage conversation instead, and the event grew into the ongoing series Scientific Controversies.⁠[14]

Published by Knopf in 2016, the book tells the history of the LIGO gravitational-wave experiment, focusing on Ron Drever, Kip Thorne and Rai Weiss; she learned of the detection two months before it was announced and added an epilogue about it.⁠[15]

NOVA’s two-hour special Black Hole Apocalypse, hosted by her, premiered on PBS on January 10, 2018.⁠[16]

Her website describes her as the first female presenter for NOVA in 35 years.⁠[17]

Published by Knopf, the 160-page, 13-chapter book is illustrated by painter and photographer Lia Halloran; a review called it a science book for poets and found its explanations of holography, relativity and quantum theory accessible to lay readers.⁠[18]

Pioneer Works’ digital channel and publication Broadcast officially launched in May 2021 after about a year in beta, with her as editor-in-chief; she was then also director of sciences at Pioneer Works.⁠[19]

She was Boston University Kilachand Honors College’s Person-in-Residence for spring 2024 and gave a public evening on Black Hole Survival Guide on February 12, 2024.⁠[3]

On April 11, 2024, she delivered the Anthony B. Evnin Lecture at Princeton University.⁠[20]

She has been working with Brian GreeneBrian GreeneBrian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University who works on superstring theory; he is known for popular-science books such as The Elegant Universe and the NOVA documentaries adapted from them, and he co-founded the World Science Festival with his wife, Tracy Day.Open the full entry, Massimo Porrati and Dan Kabat on whether extra spatial dimensions could trap energy and help explain dark energy.⁠[21]

She appeared as the guest of episode 468 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, discussing the formation and interiors of black holes, the information paradox, wormholes, extra dimensions, dark matter and dark energy, gravitational waves, and Alan Turing and Kurt Gödel.⁠[22]

She is the Claire Tow Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University and directs the sciences at Pioneer Works.⁠[23]

Personal website: Public link: https://jannalevin.com (opens in a new window)⁠[17]

X: Public account: https://x.com/JannaLevin (opens in a new window)⁠[17]

Barnard College: Official website: https://barnard.edu/ (opens in a new window)⁠[3]

Pioneer Works: Official website: https://pioneerworks.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[19]