A Brief History of Black Holes
And Why Nearly Everything You Know About Them Is Wrong
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A Brief History of Black Holes
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Narrated by:
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Dr. Becky Smethurst
About this listen
This audio edition is narrated with dazzling enthusiasm by the author, Dr Becky Smethurst.
Right now, you are orbiting a black hole.
The Earth orbits the Sun, and the Sun orbits the centre of the Milky Way: a supermassive black hole, the strangest and most misunderstood phenomenon in the galaxy.
In A Brief History of Black Holes, the award-winning University of Oxford researcher Dr Becky Smethurst charts five hundred years of scientific breakthroughs in astronomy and astrophysics. She takes us from the earliest observations of the universe and the collapse of massive stars, to the iconic first photographs of a black hole and her own published findings.
A cosmic tale of discovery, Becky explains why black holes aren’t really ‘black’, that you never ever want to be ‘spaghettified’, how black holes are more like sofa cushions than hoovers and why, beyond the event horizon, the future is a direction in space rather than in time. Told with humour and wisdom, this captivating book describes the secrets behind the most profound questions about our universe, all hidden inside black holes.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Dr Rebecca Smethurst (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
'A jaunt through space history . . . with charming wit and many pop-culture references' – BBC Sky At Night Magazine
What listeners say about A Brief History of Black Holes
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-09-22
absolutely brilliant for all levels of knowledge
as always Dr Becky's abilities in science communication come through in leaps and bounds within the book and especially in her reading of it. she does not shy away from the in depth knowledge for the more advanced but also ensures those who have just a slight curiosity are not left behind.
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- Andy
- 14-06-23
Awesome
Recommended to anyone who has an interest in the stars.
Really enjoyed this book.
As Bond would say Aweshum.
;-)
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- Love Goats
- 29-04-23
A complex topic made engaging and accessible
Great book, delivered in Dr. Becky's typical enthusiastic style. A must for anyone who wants to better understand how our universe actually works.
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- Anonymous User
- 26-07-23
Second book listened to from Dr Becky Smethurst
Loved this book from start to finish.as like Brian cox Dr Becky Smethurst really explains it so you understand more and I will be purchasing the book aswell will definitely listen to this again
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- Kindle Customer
- 05-05-24
A great book
I liked the book a lot and how the author starts every chapter with the beginning of this specific scientific point. Some chapters were not really clear to me but I think the book worth to be re-read.
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- david taylor
- 01-09-23
insightful
I was hooked from start to finish and learned a lot more about black holes that I thought I knew and the scientists that lead the way to the discovery of said holes I hope to read a updated version of the book with the new discoveries that are happening around black holes at the later end of 2023
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- R. Gray
- 26-09-22
Supermasive...
After watching Dr Becky's YouTube Channel I thought I would give this a try. Big science in an easy (ish) way to understand.
Her narration is excellent including the little laugh at spaghettification (being the audio book I don't know if that is the correct spelling. Science is hard words are harder)
In summary if you are at all interested in space in general, and Black Holes specifically this is a great listen.
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- John Clough
- 01-05-23
Black holes are neither black, nor holes
Mind blown right there.
Really enjoyed this super accessible book. The reading was clear and the concepts easy to understand. If you like the book too, I do recommend Dr Becky’s YouTube channel which covers astrophysical news in the same style.
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- Jim Franklin
- 25-11-23
Brilliant, science, humour, history and pop culture in one.
I love books read by the author, they have more emotion, humour and 'honesty' about them, as if you are involved in a conversation with the author, and Dr Becky achieves this with aplomb.
Her enthusiasm, humour, cheekiness in some ways, but open and honest way of both writing and reading make this book one of the most enjoyable I have either read or listened too in a long time.
Yes, the nurd in me wanted more technical science in the book, to delve deeper into the quantum states of matter, to discuss what happens beyond neutron degeneracy, is there quark degeneracy?
Are quarks the finality of particle physics, are their more leptons to be discovered and how could such realities impact our understanding of Dark Stars - great name, but is a future black dwarf not a dark star? How about calling them Michell objects after John Michell who wrote to Henry Cavendish about dark stars in 1783? Or maybe JMO - John Michell Object?
Excellent book, very much recommended, need to get a physical copy to carry around so if I run into Dr Becky in town I can get her to sign it 🤞
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- Joe
- 03-11-22
Excellent
This is the ultimate companion to the Super Massive Black Hole drinking game. Enjoy
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