Black Holes: The Key to Understanding the Universe

Black holes are at the heart of the Milky Way, 4 million times more massive than our Sun, where space and time are warped, and light is trapped. They are the inevitable creations of gravity when too much matter collapses into not enough space. In this book, Professor Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw take you to the edge of our understanding of black holes, a scientific journey spanning a century of physics, from Einstein to Hawking, that ends with the startling conclusion that our world may operate like a giant quantum computer.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2022
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

At the center of our galaxy, a colossal and immensely powerful entity exists, so formidable that even the light cannot evade its grasp. Its enigmatic secrets remain concealed, eagerly awaiting discovery. It is time to embark on a journey to explore the enigmatic inhabitants of our universe, the enigmatic black holes.

A supermassive black hole, approximately 4 million times more massive than our Sun, resides at the heart of the Milky Way. Within this celestial realm, space and time are so distorted that any light that ventures within a distance of 12 million kilometers becomes ensnared, unable to escape its gravitational pull. According to Einstein's theory, the very essence of time resides within this enigmatic entity. However, the realm of 21st-century physics presents a far more intricate and captivating perspective.

Black holes manifest where the most colossal stars once illuminated the heavens, situated at the forefront of our current understanding. They are natural phenomena, the inevitable result of gravity when an excessive amount of matter collapses into insufficient space. Despite the predictions of nature's laws, our comprehension of black holes remains incomplete.

Black holes represent a convergence of gravitational forces, quantum physics, and thermodynamics. Initially perceived as intellectually challenging entities that defied existence, it has only been in recent years that we have begun to unravel a profound connection between gravity and quantum information theory. This synthesis reveals a holographic universe, where space and time emerge from a network of quantum bits, and wormholes traverse the vast void.

In this groundbreaking work, Professor Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw guide us to the boundaries of our knowledge about black holes. This scientific odyssey spans a century of physics, from the pioneering theories of Einstein to the groundbreaking insights of Hawking and beyond. It culminates in a startling revelation that our world may function as a colossal quantum computer.

Weight: 552g
Dimension: 161 x 243 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780008350758