Tom Murphy (born January 9, 1970[1]) is a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. He is the project investigator for the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation Project. Professor Murphy completed his Ph.D. in astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology after which he completed a postdoc at the University of Washington - 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 rover.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4]