Kip Thorne, the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, will give the first Lyman Parratt Lecture in Physics at Cornell on Feb. 16.

The lecture, "Gravitational Waves and Black Holes: A Personal View," will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall. Refreshments will be available from 4 to 4:30 p.m. in the first floor hallway.

Thorne, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is best known for his work on gravitational radiation, black holes, neutron stars and the nature of space, time and gravity. He is the co-author of several textbooks on these subjects and also has written a popular book on general relativity, Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy.

The lecture, designed for undergraduate students and members of the public who have a basic scientific knowledge, will give a personal account of physics issues encountered as he and his colleagues struggle to create the new field of gravitational-wave observation. The goal is to use gravitational waves to probe the properties of black holes and other exotic astrophysical objects.

This lecture honors the memory of Lyman G. Parratt, a longtime professor of physics at Cornell and chairman of the physics department in the 1960s. Parratt came to Cornell in 1933 as a specialist in high-precision measurements with X-rays. By the late 1930s, his instruments and measurements were without peer in the world. During World War II, Parratt worked on anti-submarine measures for the Navy then as a group leader at Los Alamos on the atomic bomb project. When he returned to Cornell in 1946, he was one of the leaders in planning the postwar transformation of the Cornell physics department. He served as chair from 1959 to 1969, an important decade of growth. A fund to support the lecture was established by family, friends and colleagues after his death in 1995.