Product Description

Could Einstein have possibly anticipated directly testing the most captivating prediction of general relativity, that there exist isolated pockets of spacetime shielded completely from our own? Now, almost a century after that theory emerged, one of the world's leading astrophysicists presents a wealth of recent evidence that just such an entity, with a mass of about three million suns, is indeed lurking at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way--in the form of a supermassive ''black hole''!

With this superbly illustrated, elegantly written, nontechnical account of the most enigmatic astronomical object yet observed, Fulvio Melia captures all the excitement of the growing realization that we are on the verge of actually seeing this exotic object within the next few years.

Melia traces our intellectual pilgrimage to the ''brooding behemoth'' at the heart of the Milky Way. He describes the dizzying technological advances that have recently brought us to the point of seeing through all the cosmic dust to a dark spot in a clouded cluster of stars in the constellation Sagittarius. Carefully assembling the compelling circumstantial evidence for its black hole status, he shows that it is primed to reveal itself as a glorious panorama of activity within this decade--through revolutionary images of its ''event horizon'' against the bright backdrop of nearby, radiating gas.

Uniquely, this book brings together a specific and fascinating astronomical subject--black holes--with a top researcher to provide both amateur and armchair astronomers, but also professional scientists seeking a concise overview of the topic, a real sense of the palpable thrill in the scientific community when an important discovery is imminent.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #271330 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 204 pages

Review
A delightful book containing wonderful images and illustrations portraying the center of our galaxy as a region with a personality and character worthy of great study. The sort of book you would read on a cold rainy night by the fireside--with your imagination marveling at the journey the author takes you on. . . . You generally come away feeling you have learned some fresh physics and are compelled to agree that supermassive black holes are a reality.
(Kevin Long Astronomy )

Professional and armchair astronomers alike will delight in [Melia's] scientific erudition, lucid style, and sophisticated charm. . . . After all, anyone who can quote St. Augustine on the quixotic nature of time while simultaneously explaining how event horizons and singularity in black holes eliminate time must be a master teacher.
(Jim Bencivenga The Christian Science Monitor )

Astronomy buffs will find this account both engrossing and informative.
(Publishers Weekly )

Space enthusiasts, and people interested in the nature of our universe, who want some light reading material will enjoy Melia's little book about a huge discovery in astrophysics.
(Linda Rowan Science )

Astronomers call it Sagittarius A*, but that hardly paints a vivid picture of the star-swallowing, light-bending, time-slowing monstrosity lurking a mere 28,000 light years from your front door.
(Marcus Chown New Scientist )

Interested in black holes? This is the book for you! . . . Melia takes readers on a tour unlike any other--to the very heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way. . . . He also provides an excellent primer on basic gravitational theory, particle physics, and relativity--not a mean feat for a book aimed at the layperson.
(Choice )

Melia is a gifted astrophysicist and a compelling storyteller who mixes beautiful language with the jargon of astrophysics to tell a riveting tale of discovery and exploration at the heart of the Milky Way. . . . [This is] a gripping, well-told tale by a scientist whose work is at the forefront of black-hole research. What Melia has crafted here is nothing short of a scientific detective story. . . . If you're in the mood for a good astronomical detective tale to read on a dark and stormy night, this well-written, nicely illustrated work will keep you riveted to the page.
(Carolyn Collins Peterson Sky & Telescope )

The Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy is the story of the discovery of an astonishing object that has presented yet another new challenge to our understanding of astronomy, specifically galactic evolution.
(Terrell Kent Holmes Mercury )

The mind- and spacetime-bending subject of this timely book is bound to have a broad appeal, and Melia amplifies that appeal with a carefully crafted lyrical writing style and a striking collection of handsome color images. . . . Fortunately, Melia is an excellent wordsmith. His book is aimed at the lay public and is ideally suited as a supplemental reading for students in a general education course in physics or astronomy.
(Mark R. Morris Physics Today )

Review
By concentrating on one point in spacetime, Fulvio Melia brings a welcome focus and clarity to this popular exploration of our galaxy's center. Graced by reliable and readable excursions into relativity and other relevant fields, this book is obviously that of an author out to do his best possible work.
(Timothy Ferris, author of "Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers are Probing Deep Space" and "Guarding Earth From Interplanetary Peril" )

From the Inside Flap

"By concentrating on one point in spacetime, Fulvio Melia brings a welcome focus and clarity to this popular exploration of our galaxy's center. Graced by reliable and readable excursions into relativity and other relevant fields, this book is obviously that of an author out to do his best possible work."--Timothy Ferris, author of Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth From Interplanetary Peril

"Many readers, especially amateur astronomers, will enjoy this accessible book. Fulvio Melia has contributed significantly to astrophysics and has had a sustained and substantial interest in the Galactic Center. Here, he presents the story of the black hole that has been suspected for over thirty years to exist there, but for which the evidence has dramatically firmed up in the last five years."--Martin Rees, Cambridge University, Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, author of Our Cosmic Habitat

Customer Reviews

Fascinating indeed
The subject of this book has been one of my abiding interests since high school. My daughter strongly recommended it to me, with the assurance that it contained one of the best descriptions of general relativity for the layman, woven into the captivating story of the black hole at the center of our galaxy. Finally, someone who is directly involved with frontline research on this topic has taken the time to write about it in language that nonexperts can understand. Why is it that others don't do the same?

Amazing Detective Story
Hooray for Carolyn Collins Petersen, who wrote a review of this book for the January issue of Sky and Telescope. She absolutely captured the essence of this worthwhile read, and convinced me to pick up a copy of my own. I agree with her assessment wholeheartedly. Melia's book is a detective story, but more than that, it's an up-to-date account of what black hole astronomers are aiming for. The only thing I was somewhat disappointed with was that the last chapter ended too early. The subject of supermassive black holes in general deserves a lengthier discussion.

How to write
I chose this book for my assignment this semester on how science is conveyed to the general public. The question is always, do you paint a superficial picture, watering down the material to make it more "palatable", or do you keep all the details and risk losing the majority of the audience? Well, it seems that sometimes it IS possible to stay true to the science and yet explain things in a way that everyone can understand. Fulvio Melia writes with the style of a storyteller, at times with passion, and always with obvious attention to the reader's needs.