Tom Murphy (physicist)

Tom Murphy (born January 9, 1970[1]) is a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. He is the project investigator for the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation Project. Professor Murphy completed his Ph.D. in astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology after which he completed a postdoc at the University of Washington - Seattle before becoming a professor at the University of California, San Diego. In 2010 his group was responsible for locating the former Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 rover.[2]

Murphy is also known for his blog "Do The Math" which examines societal issues related to energy production, climate change, and economic growth from an astrophysicist's perspective.[3]

In 2021 Dr. Murphy published Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet textbook, a physics open educational resource (OER) that includes a version optimized for printing.[4]

  1. ^ "You Call this Progress? | Do the Math". 16 September 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  2. ^ T. W. Murphy Jr; E. G. Adelberger; J. B. R. Battat; C. D. Hoyle; N. H. Johnson; R. J. McMillan; E. L. Michelsen; C. W. Stubbs; H. E. Swanson (2011). "Laser Ranging to the Lost Lunokhod~1 Reflector". Icarus. 211 (2): 1103–1108. arXiv:1009.5720. Bibcode:2011Icar..211.1103M. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.11.010. S2CID 11247676.
  3. ^ "Do the Math | Using physics and estimation to assess energy, growth, options—by Tom Murphy".
  4. ^ "A Textbook Case for Heeding Planetary Limits". ucsdnews.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-18.