Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space PDF full book. Access full book title Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Janna Levin Publisher: Anchor ISBN: 0307958205 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
The authoritative story of the headline-making discovery of gravitational waves—by an eminent theoretical astrophysicist and award-winning writer. From the author of How the Universe Got Its Spots and A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, the epic story of the scientific campaign to record the soundtrack of our universe. Black holes are dark. That is their essence. When black holes collide, they will do so unilluminated. Yet the black hole collision is an event more powerful than any since the origin of the universe. The profusion of energy will emanate as waves in the shape of spacetime: gravitational waves. No telescope will ever record the event; instead, the only evidence would be the sound of spacetime ringing. In 1916, Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, his top priority after he proposed his theory of curved spacetime. One century later, we are recording the first sounds from space, the soundtrack to accompany astronomy’s silent movie. In Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, Janna Levin recounts the fascinating story of the obsessions, the aspirations, and the trials of the scientists who embarked on an arduous, fifty-year endeavor to capture these elusive waves. An experimental ambition that began as an amusing thought experiment, a mad idea, became the object of fixation for the original architects—Rai Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Ron Drever. Striving to make the ambition a reality, the original three gradually accumulated an international team of hundreds. As this book was written, two massive instruments of remarkably delicate sensitivity were brought to advanced capability. As the book draws to a close, five decades after the experimental ambition began, the team races to intercept a wisp of a sound with two colossal machines, hoping to succeed in time for the centenary of Einstein’s most radical idea. Janna Levin’s absorbing account of the surprises, disappointments, achievements, and risks in this unfolding story offers a portrait of modern science that is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Author: Janna Levin Publisher: Anchor ISBN: 0307958205 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
The authoritative story of the headline-making discovery of gravitational waves—by an eminent theoretical astrophysicist and award-winning writer. From the author of How the Universe Got Its Spots and A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, the epic story of the scientific campaign to record the soundtrack of our universe. Black holes are dark. That is their essence. When black holes collide, they will do so unilluminated. Yet the black hole collision is an event more powerful than any since the origin of the universe. The profusion of energy will emanate as waves in the shape of spacetime: gravitational waves. No telescope will ever record the event; instead, the only evidence would be the sound of spacetime ringing. In 1916, Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, his top priority after he proposed his theory of curved spacetime. One century later, we are recording the first sounds from space, the soundtrack to accompany astronomy’s silent movie. In Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, Janna Levin recounts the fascinating story of the obsessions, the aspirations, and the trials of the scientists who embarked on an arduous, fifty-year endeavor to capture these elusive waves. An experimental ambition that began as an amusing thought experiment, a mad idea, became the object of fixation for the original architects—Rai Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Ron Drever. Striving to make the ambition a reality, the original three gradually accumulated an international team of hundreds. As this book was written, two massive instruments of remarkably delicate sensitivity were brought to advanced capability. As the book draws to a close, five decades after the experimental ambition began, the team races to intercept a wisp of a sound with two colossal machines, hoping to succeed in time for the centenary of Einstein’s most radical idea. Janna Levin’s absorbing account of the surprises, disappointments, achievements, and risks in this unfolding story offers a portrait of modern science that is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Author: Susan Faludi Publisher: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag ISBN: 342343418X Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : de Pages : 400
Book Description
Das neue, große Buch der Pulitzer-Preisträgerin Die Nachricht trifft sie aus heiterem Himmel. Ihr Vater, mit dem sie kaum noch Kontakt hatte und der inzwischen wieder in seinem Heimatland Ungarn lebt, hatte eine Geschlechtsumwandlung vornehmen lassen. Welche Verbindung gibt es zwischen diesem neuen Elternteil, der sich nun "vollständig als Frau" identifiziert, und dem wortkargen, explosiven und teilweise gewalttätigen Vater, den sie kannte? Faludi sucht die Lösung dieses Rätsels in den Nischen ihrer Vorort-Kindheit und in den vielen Verkörperungen ihres Vaters: Jude im Budapest des Zweiten Weltkriegs, Abenteurer im Amazonasgebiet, All-American Dad und heute eine Frau, die ihr Judentum wiederentdeckt hat. Faludis Versuch, diese Metamorphose zu verstehen, lässt sie Grenzen überwinden – historische, politische, religiöse, sexuelle –, um sie schließlich zu der Frage unserer Zeit zu bringen: Ist Identität etwas, das wir wählen, oder ist Identität etwas, dem wir nicht entkommen können?
Author: Janna Levin Publisher: Anchor ISBN: 0525658238 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 161
Book Description
From the acclaimed author of Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space—an authoritative and accessible guide to the most alluring and challenging phenomena of contemporary science. "[Levin will] take you on a safe black hole trip, an exciting travel story enjoyed from your chair’s event horizon.” —Boston Globe Through her writing, astrophysicist Janna Levin has focused on making the science she studies not just comprehensible but also, and perhaps more important, intriguing to the nonscientist. In this book, she helps us to understand and find delight in the black hole—perhaps the most opaque theoretical construct ever imagined by physicists—illustrated with original artwork by American painter and photographer Lia Halloran. Levin takes us on an evocative exploration of black holes, provoking us to imagine the visceral experience of a black hole encounter. She reveals the influence of black holes as they populate the universe, sculpt galaxies, and even infuse the whole expanse of reality that we inhabit. Lively, engaging, and utterly unique, Black Hole Survival Guide is not just informative—it is, as well, a wonderful read from first to last.
Author: Chris Impey Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 1324000945 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
The astonishing science of black holes and their role in understanding the history and future of our universe. Black holes are the most extreme objects in the universe, and yet they are ubiquitous. Every massive star leaves behind a black hole when it dies, and every galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole at its center. Frighteningly enigmatic, these dark giants continue to astound even the scientists who spend their careers studying them. Which came first, the galaxy or its central black hole? What happens if you travel into one—instant death or something weirder? And, perhaps most important, how can we ever know anything for sure about black holes when they destroy information by their very nature? In Einstein’s Monsters, distinguished astronomer Chris Impey takes readers on an exploration of these and other questions at the cutting edge of astrophysics, as well as the history of black holes’ role in theoretical physics—from confirming Einstein’s equations for general relativity to testing string theory. He blends this history with a poignant account of the phenomena scientists have witnessed while observing black holes: stars swarming like bees around the center of our galaxy; black holes performing gravitational waltzes with visible stars; the cymbal clash of two black holes colliding, releasing ripples in space-time. Clear, compelling, and profound, Einstein’s Monsters reveals how our comprehension of black holes is intrinsically linked to how we make sense of the universe and our place within it. From the small questions to the big ones—from the tiniest particles to the nature of space-time itself—black holes might be the key to a deeper understanding of the cosmos.
Author: Janna Levin Publisher: Random House ISBN: 147357465X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 115
Book Description
What would happen if you fell into a Black Hole? Black holes are found throughout the universe. They can be microscopic. They can be billions of times larger than our Sun. They are dark on the outside but not on the inside. Anything that enters them can never escape, and yet they contain nothing at all. In Black Hole Survival Guide physicist and novelist Janna Levin takes you on a journey into a black hole, explaining what would happen to you and why. In the process you'll come to see how their mysteries contain answers to some of the most profound questions ever asked about the nature of our universe. 'Astrophysics at its sexiest...hugely enjoyable' Sunday Times
Author: John W. Moffat Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0190650729 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 233
Book Description
"Black holes are one of the extraordinary phenomena in the universe whose existence was surmised not by observations, but by theory. The black hole is a prediction of Einstein's 1915-1916 gravitational theory, general relativity, which replaced Sir Isaac Newton's gravity theory, published in his famous treatise Principia in 1687. In 1784, Reverend John Michell, a fellow of Queens' College and Professor of Geology at Cambridge University, had already envisioned what we now call black holes. He asked what would happen if a star's gravity were so strong that its escape velocity - the speed at which a rocket, for example, would have to travel to leave the star - exceeded the speed of light? Michell realized that any light emanating from the star would have to fall back to its surface. He speculated that the escape velocity would exceed the speed of light for a very massive star, making the star invisible to an observer"--
Author: Sarah Rose Etter Publisher: CMC Verve ISBN: 0857308521 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 178
Book Description
A year into her dream job at a cutthroat Silicon Valley startup, Cassie is trapped in a corporate nightmare. Between the long hours, toxic bosses and unethical projects, she struggles to reconcile the glittering promise of a city where obscene wealth lives alongside abject poverty. Ivy League grads complain about the snack selection from a conference room with a view of houseless people bathing in the bay. Startup burnouts leap into the paths of commuter trains and men literally set themselves on fire in the streets. Though isolated, Cassie is never alone. From her earliest memory, the black hole has been her constant companion. It feeds on her depression and anxiety, its size changing in relation to her distress. The black hole watches, but it also waits. Its relentless pull draws Cassie ever closer as the world around her unravels. When her CEO's demands cross an illegal line and her personal life spirals towards a dismal precipice, Cassie must decide whether the tempting fruits of Silicon Valley are worth the pain, or succumb to the black hole. Sharp but vulnerable, funny yet unsettling, Ripe portrays one millennial woman’s journey through our late-capitalist hellscape and offers a brilliantly incisive look at the absurdities of modern life. 'Ripe is a triumph - blade-sharp and unflinching. It walks a darkly gorgeous tightrope between the bitter and beautiful with skill that takes your breath away' - Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure 'Reading this book felt like pressing repeatedly on a bruise; the most pleasurable kind of pain... Sarah Rose Etter is truly one hell of a writer' - Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things 'A harrowing and mordantly hilarious send-up of the horrors of late-stage capitalism, and a potent meditation on the search for meaning in a broken world' - Laura van den Berg, author of The Third Hotel 'Holy shit, this book wrecked me!' - Samantha Irby, author of Wow, No Thank You 'Ripe is brilliant - a distinctive, sharp, engrossing window into late-stage capitalism. My face melted into this book' - Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead 'Ripe is enveloping, a bleakly funny surrealist/realist tale of everyday corruption and panic, the "train of fucking life", and what to do when the void winks at you' - Elisa Gabbert, author of Normal Distance
Author: Marcus Chown Publisher: Faber & Faber ISBN: 0571346413 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 200
Book Description
The spellbinding stories of the scientists whose eureka! breakthroughs in modern physics reveal science's astonishing predictive power.'An excellent popular science book.'DARA Ó BRIAIN'A thoroughly informative and entertaining read.'ANNA BURNS, Booker Prize-winning author of Milkman'One of the best-written books about phsyics I have ever come across.'POPULAR SCIENCE'Highly entertaining and accessible.' IRISH TIMES'Fascinating, life enhancing entertainment.' PROSPECT'Thoroughly enjoyable . . . Chown has down it again.' BBC SKY AT NIGHTThe Magicians takes us on a breathtaking, mind-altering tour of the eureka! moments of modern physics. Charting the spellbinding stories of the scientists who predicted and discovered the existence of unknown planets, black holes, invisible force fields, ripples in the fabric of space-time, unsuspected subatomic particles and even antimatter, Marcus Chown reveals science's greatest mystery: its astonishing predictive power.
Author: Matthew A Malkan Publisher: World Scientific ISBN: 9811206473 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
The book provides a broad overview of what we currently know about the Origin and Evolution of the Universe. The goal is to be scientifically comprehensive but concise. We trace the origins from the Big Bang and cosmic expansion, to the formation of galaxies, heavy elements, stars and planets as abodes for life. This field has made stunning progress since the first edition of this book. At that time, there were no known planets outside of our own Solar System (compared with the many thousands currently being studied). The origin of massive black holes was pure speculation (compared with the very recent detection of the first gravitational waves from space, produced by the cataclysmic merger of two surprisingly large black holes). And the most important energy in the Universe, now known as the Dark Energy which is accelerating the expansion, had not been discovered. We aim to bring lay readers with an interest in science 'up to speed' on all of these key discoveries that are part of the panorama of cosmic evolution, which has ultimately lead to our existence on Earth.