Customer Reviews

Black Holes: A Traveler's Guide

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For over five years I've been a fond of classic physics, cuantic physics, cosmology and astrophysics. I've read the books of some of the greatest writers of these branches of science, among which I remember Stephen Hawking, Paul Davies, Roger Penrose, Albert Einstein, etc. All of these books are very complete if we talk about the information exposed by them, but they have a common characteristic (I don't know whether is a defect in fact), is highly recommendable to have a certain level of scientific knowledge in order to make good use of its content. The book featured by Clifford A. Pickover "Black Holes: A traveler's guide" is totally different to those that I've read before. Is a complete, funny and, overcoat, is easily understandable by anybody. At the beginning of each chapter there are presented dialogs (between the reader and an alien called Mr. Plex) with the purpose of giving the main idea of what is coming up next. In the same way, almost all chapters make reference to simple formulas that describe the most relevant aspects about the behavior of black holes. Besides the main subject (black holes), the author took charge of showing in a briefly manner another "not less important" subjects of astrophysics and cosmology. I had never understood many of the formulas presented until I read this book. When you begin to read it, you begin a journey to the marvelous structure of one of the strangest and most fascinating things in the whole universe, a black hole. Is the best book that I've ever seen about this topics and I believe that somebody difficultly overcome the clear, precise and funny style of writing of Clifford A. Pickover. GET THE BOOK AND BEGIN YOUR OWN TRAVEL!

The term "black hole" was coined by the Princeton physicist John Archibald Wheeler. What, exactly, a black hole is (if there even is such a thing) has been a source of debate and confusion for decades. Clifford Pickover inserts you as the main character of this book. You are on a spaceship (complete with aliens) way the heck in the future & your ship is near a black hole. So, you & your friends decide to do a close (literally) study of the cosmic anomaly.

The story is entertaining & has many didactic features. Pickover also inserts some humor so as to make the book enjoyable as opposed to a dense treatise of rather complex mathematical concepts. Also, at the end of each chapter is a section called "The science behind the science fiction." It is a detailed account of what we presently know (or think we know) about the notions which were presented in the narrative.

And, the concepts are many. We learn of various weird things that happen in & near a black hole, such as time slowing, the "shrinking" of one's perspective due to the singularity & the mind-numbing gravitational power which is projected by black holes.....a gravity field so immense that the escape velocity exceeds light speed. We learn how black holes were predicted by Einstein's theory of Relativity as well as how the many principles of quantum mechanics come into the picture when one is attempting to understand the nature of singularities.

Much of this book is speculation, but it is educated speculation. The conjectures on what happens inside of a singularity, as well as the possiblity of wormholes which lead to other universes & dimensions is exciting & based on our best available current knowledge of the cosmos. As an added bonus, there is a chapter in the back of the book in which many of the world's leading cosmologists answer questions posed by the author on various topics about & related to black holes. There are also computer animation pictures of some of the more dazzling geometrical effects that are generated by black holes. For anyone who is planning to visit a black hole anytime soon, this book is a must.

This book is full of useful information about black holes that is presented in a fun manner. The dialog at the beginning of each chapter makes the reader understand the topic fairly easily. The equations were added for a more scientific approach, but you don't have to understand them to understand the theories. This book is very good for readers interested in Black Holes, but not the physics of them. I would not suggest this book to people who have studied physics or astrophysics if they are looking for a mathematical explanation of Black Holes. It often repeats itself because it is guided towards people with an interest in the subject but are not really interested in the math and physics of it all.

Overall it is an excellent overview of Black Holes, and a joy to read!

I enjoyed this book. It was easy to get into and hard to put down. Don't get discouraged by the equations. I skipped over the calculation as all that interested me was the concepts which the author did well to get across. There was perhaps only a couple of sections I re-read and mainly because I was trying refresh them in my mind to relate them to sections later in the book. As a bonus there's also a cheesy little sidestory that while not exactly rife with tiwsts and turns does well to get across basic concepts in an amusing manner before delving into the knitty gritty of it. If you enjoy studying black holes buy this book. If you don't enjoy studying balck holes, well it'll look good on your coffe table with it's snazzy cover:)

This is an excellent book to give to anyone how are new to the subject of the physics concerning black holes. Thanks to this book I am able to explain how black holes work in a simple and clear way. I like how the author uses you and Mr. Plex to educate the reader about black holes. It's a trip! This is most likely the best (and most fun) book on black holes I've ever read.

There was one reviewer below who claimed he did not like the way the formulas were presented. Pickover does it right and uses standard conventions. The formulas are accurate. Get the book, and cherish it.

Stimulating, educational. I'm a physics teacher and use this book in my classes. The book is quite accurate. I also like the humor.

I enjoyed this wonderful introduction to black holes. There's something here for everyone, from high school students to scientists. The graphics are gorgeous. The presentation was so friendly that I could not help but learn about these awesome marvels in our universe.

If you've read Hawking's famous book, "A Brief History of Time", you know there's only a chapter dedicated to black holes. Well, here's an entire book on them. Informative, enjoyable coverage of this fascinating subject is provided in a relaxed style. Finally, you can have fun exploring the deeper intricacies of black holes. Instead of just reading about them, computer examples allow you to find out about black holes first-hand. Pickover explores such topics as time and space dilation, blueshifts, the gravitational warpage of black holes, and much more. Definitely a good follow-up to the Hawking book, though it stands on its own as a solid introduction to black holes. If you want to get started with black holes, this is the book to get!

Black Holes: A Traveller's Guide is a very well-written and interesting book. The science is presented in a very thought-provoking and fun way, with the science fiction segments. Each chapter is well explained so that you come away understanding what you read and ready to read more. The book is as much a page-turner as any fiction story I have read. You could say it sucked me into it, much like a black hole. All in all, this is a TREMENDOUS book.