File:Brian_Greene,_February_28,_2012.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
Brian Randolph Greene is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and author born on February 9, 1963, in New York City. He works in the fields of superstring theory, quantum gravity, theoretical physics, and mathematics. Greene has been employed by Cornell University and Columbia University and is educated at Magdalen College, Harvard University, Stuyvesant High School, and the University of Oxford. He speaks English and practices veganism.
His notable works include *The Fabric of the Cosmos*, *Infinite Cosmos*, and *What Are You Optimistic About?*. Greene has received the Andrew Gemant Award, the Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award, and the Rhodes Scholarship. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. His doctoral student is Amanda Weltman, and he holds an Erdős number of 3. He resides in New York City and identifies as agnostic.
Synthesized by Vinony from 30 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 9 Feb 1963
- Works
- 27
Top works
- Der Stoff, aus dem der Kosmos ist : Raum, Zeit und die Beschaffenheit der Wirklichkeit
- The Fabric of the Cosmos
- ha-Yeḳum ha-eleganṭi
- Infinite Cosmos
- What Are You Optimistic About?
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
New York City, New York, USA
Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician, string theorist, and book author.
Known for
- A Trip to Infinity — Self2022
- Einstein and Hawking: Unlocking the Universe — Self - Physicist2020
- Light Falls — Himself - Host2019
- World Science Festival — Host2016
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self2015
- StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson — Self2015
- The Fabric of the Cosmos — Himself - Host2011
- The Last Mimzy — Intel Scientist2007
- The Big Bang Theory — Brian Greene2007
- The Colbert Report — Self2005
via TMDB
Key facts
- Born
- Brian Randolph Greene , ( 1963-02-09 ) February 9, 1963 (age 63) , New York City , U.S.
- Education
- Harvard University ( BS ), Magdalen College, Oxford ( DPhil )
- Known for
- String theory , Mirror symmetry , Topology change, The Elegant Universe , The Fabric of the Cosmos , The Hidden Reality , Until the End of Time
- Spouse
- Tracy Day
- Awards
- AAAS Award (2025), Pupin Medal (2022), Andrew Gemant Award (2003), Peabody Award (2003), Pulitzer Prize Finalist (2000), Sloan Fellow (1993), NSF Young Investigator (1992)
- Fields
- Physics
- Institutions
- Harvard University , Cornell University , Columbia University , World Science Festival
- Thesis
- Superstrings: topology, geometry and phenomenology and astrophysical implications of supersymmetric models (1986)
- Doctoral advisor
- Graham G. Ross , James Binney
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Brian
- Family name
- Greene
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- New York City
- Occupation
- mathematician
- Educated at
- Stuyvesant High School
- Employer
- Columbia University
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Religion
- agnosticism
- Award
- Rhodes Scholarship
- Field of work
- superstring theory
- Official website
- briangreenewriter.blogspot.com
- Image
- Brian Greene, February 28, 2014 (cropped).jpg
- Number of children
- 2
- Residence
- New York City
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Brian Greene
- date of birth
- 1963-02-09
- lifestyle
- veganism
- Erdős number
- 3
- birth name
- Brian Randolph Greene
- name in native language
- Brian Randolph Greene
- nominated for
- Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
- social media followers
- 1234607
- writing language
- English language
- maintained by WikiProject
- WikiProject Mathematics
Sources (9)
via Wikidata · CC0
~14 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is an American physicist known for his research on string theory. He is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, director of its center for theoretical physics, and the chairman of the World Science Festival, which he co-founded in 2008. Greene co-discovered mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds. He also described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, and the conifold transition, a more severe transformation of space, showing that topology can smoothly change in string theory.
His books The Elegant Universe (1999), The Fabric of the Cosmos (2004), The Hidden Reality (2011), and Until the End of Time (2020) were all top 10 New York Times bestsellers. Greene hosted two Emmy and Peabody Award Winning NOVA miniseries based on his books. He also appeared on The Big Bang Theory episode "The Herb Garden Germination", as well as in the films Frequency and The Last Mimzy. From 2015 to 2020, he served on the board of overseers of Harvard University, and is currently a member of the board of sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Brian Greene” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.