A Brief History of Black Holes
21 September 2023Synopsis
In A Brief History of Black Holes, award-winning University of Oxford researcher Dr Becky Smethurst charts five hundred years of scientific breakthroughs in astronomy and astrophysics.
'A jaunt through space history . . . with charming wit and many pop-culture references' – BBC Sky At Night Magazine
Right now, you are orbiting a black hole.
The Earth orbits the Sun, and the Sun orbits the centre of the Milky Way: a supermassive black hole, the strangest and most misunderstood phenomenon in the galaxy.
In this cosmic tale of discovery, Dr Becky Smethurst takes us from the earliest observations of the universe and the collapse of massive stars, to the iconic first photographs of a black hole and her own published findings.
She explains why black holes aren’t really ‘black’, that you never ever want to be ‘spaghettified’, how black holes are more like sofa cushions than hoovers and why, beyond the event horizon, the future is a direction in space rather than in time.
Told with humour and wisdom, this captivating book describes the secrets behind the most profound questions about our universe – all hidden inside black holes.
Details
21 September 2023
9781529086744Reviews
A jaunt through space history . . . with charming wit and many pop culture referencesBBC Sky At Night Magazine
A lot of astrophysics is packed into this neat little bookJim Al-Khalili, quantum physicist and author of The World According to Physics, on Space: 10 Things You Should Know
Bite-sized, cutting edge science delivered with enormous enthusiasmChris Lintott, astrophysicist and host of The Sky at Night, on Space: 10 Things You Should Know
A fantastic read . . . there's certainly a lot to suck you in (unlike black holes, of course)Popular Mechanics
