 Shapiro's research interests include astrophysics, astrometry, geophysics, gravitation, including the use of gravitational lenses to assess the age of the universe.In 1981, Edward Bowell discovered the 3832 main belt asteroid and it was later named after Shapiro by his former student Steven J. Ostro.One of Shapiro's grandchildren is entrepreneur and activist Zev Shapiro (the son of his daughter Nancy) who is the founder of TurnUp.