How LIGO nearly didn’t get built: Walter Massey on the origins of gravitational wave detection
985 views · Published 7 December 2017 · 1:01 · Indexed 21 September 2026
Channel: The University of Chicago · 2017 · Education
LIGO’s discovery of gravitational waves won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. But three decades ago, it was a controversial project (even among the scientific community) in search of funding. In 1991, Walter Massey, now chancellor of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and senior adviser to the President of the University of Chicago, was director of the National Science Foundation; he worked to convince the foundation’s science board to endorse the project—and then to convince Congress to fund it. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGOytSubscribe About #UChicago: Since its founding in 1890, the University of Chicago has been a destination for rigorous inquiry and field-defining research. This transformative academic experience empowers students and scholars to challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. #UChicago on the Web: Home: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-homepage News: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-news Facebook: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-FB Twitter: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-TW Instagram: http://bit.ly/UCHICAGO-IG University of Chicago on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/uchicago *** ACCESSIBILITY: If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please email [email protected].
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