The Little Book of Black Holes

Princeton University physicists Gubser (The Little Book of String Theory) and Pretorius contextualize black holes as nature-made laboratories for studying relativity and cutting-edge physics in this brisk romp through far-out space science. Scientists have been observing black holes for years, tracking stars as they orbit their dark companions while measuring specific forms of radiation and inferring their tremendous gravity by the way objects bend light around them. In 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory recorded gravity waves for the first time after colliding black holes created a shock wave whose energy matched what Einstein’s general-relativity equations had predicted nearly a century before. Gubser and Pretorius provide a primer on relativity and explain how black holes distort space-time, moving on to examine different types of black holes, from the simplest—the point mass, a “black pearl of gravity”—to charged black holes and spinning black holes that drag space-time around them as they rotate. Side excursions explore white holes, wormholes, and the extreme possibility of tapping black holes for power. The authors eschew mathematics, but the text does assume that readers have some physics knowledge. Gubser and Pretorius offer clarity on a difficult topic, with a healthy dose of wonder to boot. (Oct.)