Black holes The key to understanding the universe

Brian Cox, 1968-

Book - 2022

"At the heart of our galaxy lies a monster four million times more massive than the Sun. Within its domain, space and time are so warped that no light escapes. According to Einstein, here lies the end of time. According to twenty-first century physics, the reality may be far more bizarre. Meet the most extraordinary object in the universe: the black hole ... In this groundbreaking book, acclaimed physicists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw take you to the edge of our understanding of black holes; a scientific journey to the research frontier spanning a century of physics, from Einstein to Hawking and beyond"--Dust jacket flap.

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Subjects
Published
New York : Mariner Books [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
Brian Cox, 1968- (author)
Other Authors
J. R. (Jeffrey Robert) Forshaw, 1968- (author)
Edition
First U.S. edition
Item Description
"Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2022 by William Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers"--Title page verso.
Physical Description
280 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-270) and index.
ISBN
9780062936691
  • 1. A Brief History of Black Holes
  • 2. Unifying Space and Time
  • 3. Bringing Infinity to a Finite Place
  • 4. Warping Spacetime
  • 5. Into the Black Hole
  • 6. White Holes and Wormholes
  • 7. The Kerr Wonderland
  • 8. Real Black Holes from Collapsing Stars
  • 9. Black Hole Thermodynamics
  • 10. Hawking Radiation
  • 11. Spaghettified and Vaporised
  • 12. The Sound of One Hand Clapping
  • 13. The World as a Hologram
  • 14. Islands in the Stream
  • 15. The Perfect Code
  • Acknowledgements
  • Endnotes
  • Picture Credits
  • Index
Review by Library Journal Review

Known for his BBC Wonders series, BBC podcast "The Infinite Monkey Cage," and numerous Sunday Times best sellers, University of Manchester professor Cox joins with colleague Forshaw to explain those enticing black holes in outer space. With a 40,000-copy first printing.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A new look at one of the universe's most intriguing marvels. Did gravitational waves, spilling from a black hole collision discovered in 2015, signal the opening of a wormhole through space and time? This is just one of many profound questions previously asked only in science-fiction movies and now studied in scientific circles as technology progresses. In their latest collaboration (Universal: A Guide to the Cosmos, The Quantum Universe, etc.), particle physicists Cox and Forshaw ask and answer many such questions. (Their answer to the above is a tantalizing "maybe.") Black holes are the remains of massive stars that have collapsed under their own gravity. Until recently, they glowed "gently like faint coals in the cold sky," so distant they existed only "at the edge of our current understanding." In 1915, Einstein predicted their existence with the Theory of General Relativity, and the concept of "Hawking radiation" resolved an inaccurate view of them (that information disappears into them permanently, a belief challenged when physicist Stephen Hawking described black-hole radiation leaks). Are we close to an understanding? The authors think so. Inside black holes, principles of general relativity and quantum physics collide in such a way it is becoming clear we live in a "quantum universe." Cox and Forshaw believe that quantum computers will help us solve the last mysteries of black holes in what will be "the ultimate vindication of research for research's sake: two of the biggest problems in science and technology" turning out to be "intimately related. The challenge of building a quantum computer is very similar to the challenge of writing down the correct theory of quantum gravity." One way or another, they write, black holes are helping us see the exhilarating extent to which we are "constantly discovering techniques that Nature has already exploited." A spellbinding cosmic exploration that resists collapsing under the weight of jargon. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.