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Black hole : how an idea abandoned by Newtonians, hated by Einstein, and gambled on by Hawking became loved / Marcia Bartusiak.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New Haven [Connecticut[ : Yale University Press, [2015]Description: xii, 237 pages ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 030021085X
  • 9780300210859
Subject(s):
Contents:
It is therefore possible that the largest luminous bodies in the universe may be invisible -- Newton, forgive me -- One would then find oneself . . . in a geometrical fairyland -- There should be a law of nature to prevent a star from behaving in this absurd way! -- I'll show those bastards -- Only its gravitational field persists -- I could not have picked a more exciting time in which to become a physicist -- It was the weirdest spectrum I'd ever seen -- Why don't you call it a black hole? -- Medieval torture rack -- Whereas Stephen Hawking has such a large investment in general relativity and black holes and desires an insurance policy -- Black holes ain't so black.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 523.8875 B294 Available 33111007984343
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The contentious history of the idea of the black hole--the most fascinating and bizarre celestial object in the heavens

For more than half a century, physicists and astronomers engaged in heated dispute over the possibility of black holes in the universe. The weirdly alien notion of a space-time abyss from which nothing escapes--not even light--seemed to confound all logic. This engrossing book tells the story of the fierce black hole debates and the contributions of Einstein and Hawking and other leading thinkers who completely altered our view of the universe.

Renowned science writer Marcia Bartusiak shows how the black hole helped revive Einstein's greatest achievement, the general theory of relativity, after decades during which it had been pushed into the shadows. Not until astronomers discovered such surprising new phenomena as neutron stars and black holes did the once-sedate universe transform into an Einsteinian cosmos, filled with sources of titanic energy that can be understood only in the light of relativity. This book celebrates the hundredth anniversary of general relativity, uncovers how the black hole really got its name, and recounts the scientists' frustrating, exhilarating, and at times humorous battles over the acceptance of one of history's most dazzling ideas.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

It is therefore possible that the largest luminous bodies in the universe may be invisible -- Newton, forgive me -- One would then find oneself . . . in a geometrical fairyland -- There should be a law of nature to prevent a star from behaving in this absurd way! -- I'll show those bastards -- Only its gravitational field persists -- I could not have picked a more exciting time in which to become a physicist -- It was the weirdest spectrum I'd ever seen -- Why don't you call it a black hole? -- Medieval torture rack -- Whereas Stephen Hawking has such a large investment in general relativity and black holes and desires an insurance policy -- Black holes ain't so black.

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