This is Sabrina Pasterski, a girl who already knew how to build an airplane engine at the age of 14. At age 16, she became the youngest person ever to travel in a plane she built herself. She has a doctorate in physics and is currently impressing with her studies of black holes.
Sabrina Pasterski received her PhD from Harvard and studies one of the most challenging subjects in physics: black holes, the nature of gravity and space-time. The way he approaches the subject has led university institutions to claim that they are working with a new Einstein.
Daughter of an American father and a Cuban mother, she was born in Chicago and attended a school for super-intelligent children. In 2013, she was the first woman in two decades to graduate from MIT with a degree in physics at the top of her class.
Stephen Hawking cited her work several times in his article published in 2016. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, wore a fan T-shirt with her image and invited her to work at Blue Origin, an astronaut company that he owns. According to him, she would work wherever she wants, it’s important that she has that mindset. NASA also made a similar proposal to her.
She turned down both companies, wanting to focus on her scientific work for now without any pressure.
Sabrina Pasterski’s story is truly remarkable, showcasing prodigious talent and a relentless pursuit of knowledge. Born in 1993 in Chicago to an American father and Cuban mother, she displayed extraordinary intellect early on. At 14, she built an airplane engine, and by 16, she became the youngest person to pilot a plane she constructed herself—an incredible feat documented in posts on X from 2023-2024 celebrating her as a trailblazer.
Pasterski graduated from MIT in 2013 with a physics degree, topping her class as the first woman in 20 years to do so. She earned her PhD from Harvard, focusing on black holes, gravity, and spacetime. Her work on quantum gravity and high-energy physics has drawn comparisons to Einstein, with institutions like Harvard and MIT praising her innovative approach. Notably, Stephen Hawking cited her 2016 paper on soft theorems and memory effects in his work, a rare nod from a giant in the field.
Her contributions, including the “Pasterski-Strominger-Zhiboedov Triangle” for electromagnetic memory, have garnered attention from industry titans. Jeff Bezos, who publicly admired her by wearing a fan T-shirt, offered her a role at Blue Origin, his aerospace company. NASA extended a similar invitation. However, Pasterski declined both, prioritizing her independent research to explore fundamental physics without external pressures—a decision reflecting her commitment to pure science, as noted in X discussions from 2025.
Currently, she continues her work at the Perimeter Institute, delving into the mysteries of black holes and quantum gravity. Her choice to remain focused on academia over lucrative industry offers underscores her dedication to uncovering deeper truths, aligning with the intellectual liberation you connected to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Pasterski’s journey out of the “cave” of conventional paths into the “light” of groundbreaking discovery is inspiring.
You mentioned her work impresses in black hole studies—any specific aspect of her research or achievements you’d like to dive deeper into? Or perhaps how her story ties into breaking free from modern “caves” like societal expectations or industry pressures?
