Black Hole Blues

by Janna Levin

"In 1916, Einstein became the first to predict the existence of gravitational waves: sounds without a material medium generated by the unfathomably energy-producing collision of black holes. Now, Janna Levin, herself an astrophysicist, recounts the story of the search, over the last fifty years, for these elusive waves--a quest that has culminated in the creation of the most expensive project ever funded by the National Science Foundation ($1 billion-plus). She makes clear the how the waves are created in the cosmic collision of black holes, and why the waves can never be detected by telescope. And, most revealingly, she delves into the lives and fates of the four scientists currently engaged in--and obsessed with--discerning this soundtrack of the universe's history. Levin's account of the surprises, disappointments, achievements, and risks of this unfolding story provides us with a uniquely compelling and intimate portrait of the people and processes of modern science"--

• ISBN10: 0307958191
• ISBN13: 9780307958198
• Publish Date: 29 March 2016
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: NG
• Imprint: University Press plc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

Interesting (and timely) subject, intriguing history, but the chatty, almost gossipy way the book is written does it a disservice. The writing is downright peculiar, overly poetic or nonsensical at times, full of interjections from the author, less like credible journalism and more like a he-said-she-said oral history with whole paragraphs of rambling, unedited quotes and a baffling structure. There are a few reviews saying the physics are on point but the storytelling isn’t; however, I found even the physics were told like a pop culture piece assembled for clickbait instead of a published book on scientific discovery.

Ah, well. I’ll still read more about LIGO, and the fool’s errand aspect of the story is an interesting one, no matter how it’s told.