#213 – Barry Barish: Gravitational Waves and the Most Precise Device Ever Built

Lex Fridman Podcast

Barry Barish is a theoretical physicist at Caltech and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Barry’s Nobel Prize entry: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2017/barish/facts/
Barry’s Caltech profile: https://pma.caltech.edu/people/barry-c-barish
LIGO’s Website: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/
LIGO’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LIGO

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:27) – Early Math and Physics questions
(18:02) – Enrico Fermi
(24:34) – Birth of the Nuclear Age
(29:42) – The Fermi Paradox
(34:45) – Gravity
(51:28) – Philosophical Implications of General Relativity
(58:34) – Detecting Gravitational Waves
(1:01:47) – LIGO
(1:34:45) – Nobel Prize
(1:49:34) – Black Holes
(2:01:53) – Space Exploration
(2:09:48) – Books
(2:18:37) – Advice for young people
(2:24:33) – Meaning of life