In Search of the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professionals) [Paperback]

John Gribbin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professionals | Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Once the stuff of science-fiction novels, black holes, and their even stranger cosmologican counterparts, white holes and wormholes, are now the subject of serious inquiry. Physicists who formerly shunned these astrophysical eccentricities have begun to theorize about them and search for the physical proof of their existence with the zeal of converts. The unavoidable conclusion of this research is that these "rips in the fabric of spacetime" are not only real, they might actually provide a passage to other universes and travel through time. This book tells the story of the theories and discoveries that have led scientists to these conclusions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Gribbin trained as an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge before becoming a full-time science writer. His many books include a number of titles in the In Search of . . . series, and his most recent books are The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everything; The Case of the Missing Neutrinos: And Other Curious Phenomena of the Universe; and Richard Feynman: A Life in Science (with Mary Gribbin). He is currently a visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140248145
• ISBN-13: 978-0140248142
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,604,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More a history lesson than anything..., April 7, 2001

By 

JAMES HUFFMAN (Muncie, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Search of the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professionals) (Paperback)

But there's nothing wrong with history, is there? Most of the book covers the mathematical and physical explorations of thinkers from the Greek age through the 20th century, but only conceptually--not mathematically. For those who want an introduction to the myriad theories of how the universe was created, how it might be destroyed, and why there may be an infinite quantity of universes in existence, this is a good book to pick up. But for those of a more math-oriented disposition looking for something with immense detail and depth, you may want to look elsehwere. This one covers the basics, and covers them well.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suffer the frustration of Leonardo., February 10, 2000

By 

Michael Tellinger (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Search of the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professionals) (Paperback)

In reading this amazing journey through space and time, being shown the possibilities of science and physics, one is reminded of how Leonardo da Vinci must have felt 500 years ago while developing his various phylosophies. Knowing it would be possible to fly heavier-than-air machines and so on... but not being able to actually develop such machines himself. John Gribbin delivers proof which was developed by some of the finest brains in science and physics, that travelling at the speed of light and beyond is possible, and not prevented by the laws of physics. The only problem is that at the dawn of the 21st century we are not able to manufacture such machines, we can only fantasize about such an event and dare to guess when we will be able to build such machines.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, readable book, November 6, 2001

By 

bookster (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Search of the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professionals) (Paperback)

I don't know how many books have been written on the subject of black holes, but this is a great one to start with. Gribbin is a great writer--he has an excellent command of writing science in a clear way that makes you want to keep reading to see what he'll say next. I found the abstract descriptions of spacetime in the later chapters a little hard to read, but otherwise I highly recommend the book.

***

Another good book on black holes is Kip S. Thorne, "Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy," but that one is much denser (no pun intended) and somewhat more technical.