Product Description

Ever since Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity burst upon the world in 1915, some of the world's most brilliant minds have sought to decipher the mysteries bequeathed by that legacy. Einstein himself was resistant to its implications, but physicists, astronomers and cosmologists have argued over his theory ever since. This volume is a history of Einstein's ideas as they made their way through the increasingly political world of science. Kip Thorne is the co-author (with John Wheeler and Charles Misner) of "Gravitation".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #483555 in Books
• Published on: 1995-08-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 619 pages

Customer Reviews

Both popular science and history of science
Kip Thorne worked long on this book (originaly published in 1993), but the result is worth his and the readers effort. Both history of science and popular science - written by someone who participated in some of the discoveries it describes - this tells the tale of the mathematical discovery of black holes, the opposition to the idea of a lot of eminent scientists (Einstein among them), and the gradual realisation that black holes do realy exist. Thorne ponders on several of the ramifications black holes have on our understanding of the universe, not in the least the possibility of time travel. However, science fiction readers will be disapointed to learn why time travel through black holes probably is scientificaly impossible. A very enjoyable and thoughtprovoking text; as with all good books, you loath the moment when you reach the last page. A pity Thorne is a careful, slow writer. An update that brings the subject to the present would be most welcome. (The science in this book is not too difficult, especialy if your interested in this sort of subject. I myself studied history and my physics and mathematics background is poor to say the least. The reader with a physics or mathematics background will find lots of technical detail in the many notes.)

Great Book!
This book was my actual first read on physics. That was about 3 years ago, and I haven't stop reading physics since then. Teacher could very well learn from his explaining, just as they would learn by reading ANY Asimov's book. If you like this one, read Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe, never have I read a better explanation of the velocity of light and its consequences!

A Tour de Force of the Study of the limits of Physics
This book is a very readable account of the history of reasearching the very limits of our world - the large (cosmic) and the small (quantum). From Einsteins work on Relativity to the latest research into the physics of black holes and worm holes, this account takes us through the emotions all reasearchers have in their work. The elation of new discoveries and heartache of errors uncovered. From the early years of the big players in the US and USSR - through to thier "grand-child graduates" moving the boundaries of mathematics and physics to new depths. Kip has written a enthralling account behind the mathematical and physical discoveries surrounding the limits of cosmology - black holes, worm holes, and ... time warps(!). From the sci-fi prologue (what is the science and what is the fiction ?), I found this book very difficult to put down. For the lay reader there is very little mathematics and a lot of very good descriptions of all the concepts introduced. An excellent book and highly recommended.