Gravity's Engines
How Bubble-Blowing Black Holes Rule Galaxies, Stars, and Life in the Cosmos
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
One of The Barnes and Noble Review Editors' Picks: Best Nonfiction of 2012
Selected by The Christian Science Monitor as one of "21 smart nonfiction titles we think you'll enjoy this summer"
Selected by The New Scientist as one of 10 books to look out for in 2012
We've long understood black holes to be the points at which the universe as we know it comes to an end. Often billions of times more massive than the Sun, they lurk in the inner sanctum of almost every galaxy of stars in the universe. They're mysterious chasms so destructive and unforgiving that not even light can escape their deadly wrath.
Recent research, however, has led to a cascade of new discoveries that have revealed an entirely different side to black holes. As the astrophysicist Caleb Scharf reveals in Gravity's Engines, these chasms in space-time don't just vacuum up everything that comes near them; they also spit out huge beams and clouds of matter. Black holes blow bubbles.
With clarity and keen intellect, Scharf masterfully explains how these bubbles profoundly rearrange the cosmos around them. Engaging with our deepest questions about the universe, he takes us on an intimate journey through the endlessly colorful place we call our galaxy and reminds us that the Milky Way sits in a special place in the cosmic zoo—a "sweet spot" of properties. Is it coincidental that we find ourselves here at this place and time? Could there be a deeper connection between the nature of black holes and their role in the universe and the phenomenon of life? We are, after all, made of the stuff of stars.
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"Weird, destructive, time-warping, overwhelming, alien... fearsomely noisy and rambunctious," black holes are the bad boys of the universe. And according to Scharf, director of Columbia University's Astrobiology Center, black holes also play a critical role in shaping the universe. With gravity so great that not even light can escape, massive black holes are invisible. The only way to detect these "lords of gravity" is by looking for the energy from the shock waves created as they gulp down matter. Thanks to X-ray telescopes like the Chandra Space Telescope, astronomers have found energy coming from the hearts of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. After a quick, nontechnical overview of how black holes are created, Scharf discusses how they power galactic dynamics. The most massive grow dim relatively quickly, exhausting their food supply, while a smaller black hole can burn for billions of years, varying from "simmering" beast to "blazing pyre" and back. They cast off ripples of energy, pushing galactic dust and gases outward and slowing stellar formation. Scharf's explanations are vivid and accessible, evoking the awe of cosmic grandeur in a way that's as humbling as it is fascinating.