Thorne struggled to find a theoretical rationale for time dilation.

When Kip Thorne laid the groundwork for a movie about interstellar travel, in collaboration with film producer, Linda Obst, in 2006, their intent was to depict possibilities of interstellar travel that could be derived from the warping of space and time through such means as black holes and wormholes.

The collaborative effort has since been described in Thorne’s book, which focuses on the effort to let scientific principles guide the physical events of outerspace travel depicted in the film, as opposed to having the events be the result of a science fiction writer’s imagination.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, it makes sense that the movie “Interstellar” needs an entire book to explain the science behind its amazing visuals.

In “The Science of ‘Interstellar'” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2014), Caltech physicist Kip Thorne takes readers on a short swim through the very deep physics that underlies some of the amazing sights from the movie: black holes, higher dimensions and 4,000-foot-tall (1,200 meters) waves.

Thorne joined the “Interstellar” project in 2005, when it was just a seed of an idea by producer Lynda Obst, Thorne’s longtime friend. Thorne stayed on board throughout the production of the movie, and worked as a science consultant for screenwriter Jonathan Nolan and director Christopher Nolan. [The Science of ‘Interstellar’ Explained (Infographic)]

The book captures the back and forth between Thorne and the Nolan brothers. Thorne invested considerable effort to make sure that the science in the film was either based in fact, or at the very least, was not an outright violation of the laws of physics. In each section of the book, Thorne indicates if the science he is discussing is “truth,” “educated guess” or “speculation.”

More than once, Thorne’s efforts expanded his own knowledge about the physical limits of the universe.

For example, the astronauts in the film visit a planet that is orbiting a black hole. The intense gravity of the black hole causes time to run significantly more slowly on the planet compared to the ship, which stays a safe distance away. Christopher Nolan told Thorne he had a very specific ratio of time dilation that had to occur: One hour on the planet should equal seven years on Earth.

At first, Thorne felt the request was impossible. The planet would have to orbit so close to the black hole that the planet would quickly be torn apart. Still, Nolan insisted. So Thorne gave it some thought and realized that under the right circumstances (the black hole has to spin incredibly fast), such intense dilation could occur. He provides an explanation of that science in the new book.

To see the rest of this article, click book review.

Click next page to see an excerpt and link to an interview where Kip Thorne elaborates on the physics behind the time warp effect of the black hole.