Black Holes: The Key to Understanding the Universe

Wonderful summary of the science around one of the most interesting subjects, in my opinion, that there is. I agree that this is hard material to follow. Thankfully, there is a mass of material available online to support you. I find it works to go slowly and, as soon as something seems impenetrable or doesn't make sense, go away and watch some of the excellent explanations and videos elsewhere, then come back. The writers are witty and engaging but this is hard stuff. Take your time.

Read cover to cover almost in one go that you cant put down. For such a genius to be able to explain things in everyday terms but still be “grounded” and throw in everything from Monty Python, through Hitchhikers Guide to Manchester drizzle (and you need to have lived in Manchester to understand that is not bad), this book is a must have, as the sheer enormity of the concepts and expanse of space and all that go with Black Holes. Ok it might be difficult for some to grasp, but undoubtedly I would say re-read it to benefit from gaining an understanding of this subject. Einstein and Hawking plus others are no longer around to explain concepts and theoretical physics, but Brian Cox is and has the ability to hold an audience. So get it whilst you can, its a brilliant read. Highly recommended.

I was told that it got left in the letter box and when I came to it, the packaging was fine but my book was creased and bent at the top which is the only reason it hasn’t got 5 stars. The book itself is so insightful and easily got me immersed into it. I understand why it would be difficult to understand for someone who doesn’t study this area or know nothing about it but I understood it clear as day and it was so wonderful to read.

Hiya, A wonderful book. Relativity is actually much weirder than I thought. I will have to read this several times...I understood beforehand that, the faster one travels through space the slower time goes relative to the observer. I understood that there is no speed limit for space itself only that which travels through it...space can flow and expand many times faster than light. But for a while, I got hung up on proposed visual observations in the book and therefore somewhere had misunderstood... But now I think I get it?, More a misunderstanding and it regards 'Frames Per Second' or any quantised measured unit of time. It dawned on me that I could understand what was being described in the terms the video camera cartwheel phenomenon. If the Rotations per Minute (RPM) of a spinning wheel matches the frames per second (FPS) of a video camera then the wheel on film is observed to slow to a stop. If the wheel rotates faster than the cameras FPS then the wheel on film is seen to Counter rotate, seeming to spin in the opposite direction. The above could be used to help describe visual effects experienced by a traveller either approaching or travelling away from a Black Hole and how at times objects can appear frozen in time, and are observed standing still upon the event horizon. Visual observations are dependant on the speed and direction of both the object and the traveller....Visual information moves away from an object and through space at the speed of light under normal conditions. If a traveller matches the speed and direction of that visual information moving through space, the traveller will observe the object to be frozen still for as long as the traveller maintains that heading and speed. Regards, T. czar****

A book, well, written, has the majestic power of making the reader feel much smarter than they are; bigger than they are yet at the same time, infinitely small and insignificant. This is a beautifully add masterfully written synopsis of the universe as a whole tying together, very complicated theories and ideologies into something readable, and more importantly, understandable. I am a massive fan of this book.

A great read - higher recommend

Unfortunately this book does not explain the theoretical concepts around black holes in a way that a lay person such as myself can grasp, beyond the Penrose diagrams of time and space in earlier chapters; the reason that I bought this book. It does seem to me though that in trying to explain concepts of time, space and black holes through diagrams and ideas, that theoretical physicists have rather run away with themselves. They have used building blocks of unfounded ideas, one on top of the other, to create a structure of a reality that may simply just not exist this way. There is no way to prove it.

Complicated ideas explained with the minimum use of mathematics. Ideas sometimes difficult to grasp but diagrams helpful and clearly labelled. Covered many recent theories about Black Holes as well as reviewing earlier work. A good read for those who like to keep up to date with advances in science.