Janna Levin

“Vivid . . . Readers couldn’t hope for a more fascinating intro to a family of cosmic objects whose existence promises still more wonders to be discovered.”

— Publishers Weekly

Janna Levin is a gifted author, cosmologist, and Guggenheim Fellow whose latest book, Black Hole Survival Guide, offers a glimpse into “one of the oddest and most intriguing topics in astrophysics”(Kirkus Reviews). Accompanied by original artwork from painter and photographer Lia Halloran, the book is at once authoritative and accessible—allowing scientists and non-scientists alike to better understand the wonder of the cosmos. Levin writes with a striking, intelligent prose about everything from relativity and quantum mechanics, to the solar system and the Milky Way. Her earlier book Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, which was named one of Kirkus’ best non-fiction books of 2016, provided a fascinating history of the Nobel-Prize winning pursuit to detect gravitational waves: the holy grail of modern cosmology, otherwise known as the soundtrack of the universe. “If what we witnessed before was a silent movie, Levin says, “gravitational waves turn our universe into a talkie.” Intelligent, illuminating, and wildly entertaining, Levin’s talks are a brilliant introduction to cosmic phenomena that shapes our universe.

Her debut book, How the Universe Got Its Spots, fused geometry, topology, chaos and string theory to show how the pattern of hot and cold spots left over from the big bang may one day help reveal the true size and shape of the universe. Her next book, A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, bridged fiction and nonfiction to tell a strange story of coded secrets, psychotic delusions, mathematical truth, and age-old lies. Most recently she hosted Black Hole Apocalypse, for a special episode of PBS’s Nova—the first female presenter of a Nova show in 35 years.

Levin is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. Her scientific research concerns the early universe, chaos and black holes. Her book A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines won the PEN/Bingham Fellowship for Writers which “honors an exceptionally talented fiction writer whose debut work … represents distinguished literary achievement.” It was also a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway award for “a distinguished book of first fiction.”

“This is a beautifully written account of the quest to open the ‘gravitational-wave window’ onto our universe, and use it to explore our universe’s warped side…I applaud Janna Levin for capturing so well our vision, our struggles, and the ethos and spirit of our torturous route toward success.”

— Kip Thorne on Black Hole Blues

Levin lives at the cusp of Science & Art. She is the Founding Director of Sciences at the influential cultural center Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. She also founded the Science & Art magazine, Pioneer Works Broadcast, for which she serves as Editor-in-Chief.

She has worked at the Center for Particle Astrophysics (CfPA) at UC Berkeley, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at Cambridge University and the Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing at Oxford University, where she won an award from the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and Arts. Levin holds a BA in Physics and Astronomy from Barnard College with a concentration in Philosophy, and a PhD from MIT in Physics. She was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2012.