Tom Murphy (born January 9, 1970) is a professor of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. He is the project investigator for the

Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation The Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation, or APOLLO, is a project at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. It is an extension and advancement of previous Lunar Laser Ranging experiments, which use retroreflectors on the ...

Project. Professor Murphy completed his Ph.D. in astrophysics at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

after which he completed a postdoc at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

- 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 ''Lunokhod 1'' (Russian language, Russian: Луноход-1 "Moonwalker 1"), also known as Аппарат 8ЕЛ № 203 ("Device 8EL No. 203") was the first rover (space exploration), robotic rover lunar rover, on the Moon and the first to freel ...

rover. 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. 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.

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Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American astrophysicists University of California, San Diego faculty California Institute of Technology alumni {{US-physicist-stub