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bibliocamera's review against another edition
5.0
“This is the history of an idea.”
I absolutely love this book!
I absolutely love this book!
edlib's review against another edition
5.0
“This is the history of an idea.”
I absolutely love this book!
I absolutely love this book!
shewwimonster's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like this is a really great introduction into black holes, particularly if the idea of "science books" is intimidating. This is because, as Bartusiak says in her preface, this book presents the "history of an idea" rather than straight up science. There is plenty of theory included, though it's very accessible. I greatly enjoyed her approach and tone. This ended up being a quick read.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
This very good book is well described by its subtitle: "How an idea abandoned by Newtonians, hated by Einstein, and gambled on by Hawking became loved." It is a history of the theory and evidence for black holes, beginning with Newton and going through 2013. It is on the lighter side (by the standards of popular physics) with a blend of biography and science. But what was particularly interesting was how well it conveyed the ways in which physicists consistently tried to avoid an idea that was clearly coming out of their models and also how general relativity spent several decades in obscurity before it was revived by greater contact with data and the realities of astrophysics.
dchaseb's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting material. Found it intriguing to see the idea of something I've always held to be true (existence of black holes) be just a theory or wild assumption and it's development.
chcubic's review against another edition
2.0
Flat, dry, and superfluous. Stacking historical details doesn't make a good story, and lumping physics terminologies doesn't help to establish a deeper understanding. It's partly my own fault, as the author mentions very early in the book that it's more about the history of an idea rather than about the idea itself. However, without making the idea inspiring, it's hard to see why readers should care about how the idea developed.
Perhaps an OK historical overview if the reader really knew NOTHING about black holes, otherwise better to skip it as it's unlikely add anything.
p.s. Before starting the book I have it tagged with "physics" as well, but took the tag off after reading it.
p.s.2 I am surprised to find the whole "black hole" book only mentioned gravitational lens ONCE, only passingly, while it's one of the most important applications of black hole astronomy (and cool by itself!).
Perhaps an OK historical overview if the reader really knew NOTHING about black holes, otherwise better to skip it as it's unlikely add anything.
p.s. Before starting the book I have it tagged with "physics" as well, but took the tag off after reading it.
p.s.2 I am surprised to find the whole "black hole" book only mentioned gravitational lens ONCE, only passingly, while it's one of the most important applications of black hole astronomy (and cool by itself!).
chaseb455's review
3.0
Very interesting material. Found it intriguing to see the idea of something I've always held to be true (existence of black holes) be just a theory or wild assumption and it's development.