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Title details for Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin - Available

Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space

by Janna Levin
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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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 29, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780307958204
      • File size: 5083 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780307958204
      • File size: 5373 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 14, 2016
      Following the detection of gravitational waves 100 years after Einstein predicted their existence, Levin, a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College, goes behind the scenes for a chatty insider's look at the brilliant, eccentric people who continued the search for the elusive phenomenon. Much of the book is told through conversations with the major players involved with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), particularly Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss, along with an earlier researcher's taped interview with Ron Drever. The scientists' personalities are evident in their stories, which are interlaced with clear explanations of the science of black holes. As is often the case in cutting-edge science, clashes were inevitable. There was professional jealousy; there was selfless collaboration. And all the while, there was the possibility that it was a fool's dream. Levin delves into the backgrounds of numerous researchers, painting a sad picture of Joe Weber, a pioneer in the field who erred in his calculations and was left behind. Few of the interviewees mince words, offering unvarnished perspectives on the conflicts and obstacles as well as the camaraderie of those involved. Levin tells the story of this grand quest with the immediacy of a thriller and makes the fixations and foibles of its participants understandable.

    • Library Journal

      April 15, 2016

      In this engaging narrative, Levin (physics & astronomy, Barnard Coll.; A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines) briefly summarizes the 100-year search for gravitational waves. Since Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity predicted in 1916 that the collision of black holes could be detected by the energy produced, scientists have experimented with ways to capture energy that can only be heard. Levin tells the story of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the largest endeavor ever undertaken by the National Science Foundation, founded in the 1980s to detect and study gravitational waves. Interviews with students and colleagues reveal the decades of accomplishments and setbacks of an international cast of scientists and researchers. VERDICT This timely book enlarges the much-covered story of the proof of gravitational waves uncovered by LIGO in 2015. Levin relates a complicated subject conversationally in a way that will appeal to those interested in current events and scientific discovery.--Catherine Lantz, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib.

      Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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