Gravity's Fatal Attraction

Gravity's Fatal Attraction
Author: Mitchell Begelman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 504
Release: 2009-12-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1316139468

Richly illustrated with the images from observatories on the ground and in space, and computer simulations, this book shows how black holes were discovered, and discusses our current understanding of their role in cosmic evolution. This second edition covers new discoveries made in the past decade, including definitive proof of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way, evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, and the new appreciation of the connection between black holes and galaxy formation. There are entirely new chapters on gamma-ray bursts and cosmic feedback. Begelman and Rees blend theoretical arguments with observational results to demonstrate how both approaches contributed to this subject. Clear illustrations and photographs reveal the strange and amazing workings of our universe. The engaging style makes this book suitable for introductory undergraduate courses, amateur astronomers, and all readers interested in astronomy and physics.

Gravity's Fatal Attraction

Gravity's Fatal Attraction
Author: Mitchell Begelman
Publisher: WH Freeman
Total Pages: 259
Release: 1998-03-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780716760290

With superb illustrations and photographs, Mitchell Begelman and Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, describe how black holes were found and what their existence implies for the evolution of our universe.

Turn Right At Orion

Turn Right At Orion
Author: Mitchell Begelman
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2008-01-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0465012167

This ingenious book is the account of an epic astronomical journey, a tale told by an early-twenty-first-century human sailor among the stars. The account is discovered, as an alien "translator's note" reveals, sixty million years in earth's future -- the product of one man's amazing, revelatory, and occasionally perilous space odyssey. Astrophysicist Mitchell Begelman takes the reader to far-distant shores, across a vast ocean of time, in a narrative that zips along at just below light speed. We travel to the center of the Milky Way, witness the births and deaths of stars, almost perish in the crushing forces at the perimeter of a black hole -- and all the while Begelman explains in clear and vibrant prose the way things work in the cosmos. A powerful imaginative work that is thoroughly grounded both in history and in the latest in astrophysical thinking and observation, Turn Right at Orion is serious science that reads like fiction.

The Edge of Infinity

The Edge of Infinity
Author: Fulvio Melia
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2003-09-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521814058

In the past, they were recognized as the most destructive force in nature. Now, following a cascade of astonishing discoveries, supermassive black holes have undergone a dramatic shift in paradigm. Astronomers are finding out that these objects may have been critical to the formation of structure in the early universe, spawning bursts of star formation, planets, and even life itself. They may have contributed as much as half of all the radiation produced after the Big Bang, and as many as 200 million of them may now be lurking through the vast expanses of the observable cosmos. In this elegant, non-technical account, Melia conveys for the general reader the excitement generated by the quest to expose what these giant distortions in the fabric of space and time have to say about our origin and ultimate destiny.

Love Across Color Lines

Love Across Color Lines
Author: Maria Diedrich
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 518
Release: 2000-09-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0809066866

"In 1856 Ottilie Assing, an intrepid journalist who had left Germany after the failed revolution of 1848, traveled to Rochester, New York, to interview Frederick Douglass for a German newspaper. This encounter transformed the lives of both: they became intimate friends, they stayed together for twenty-eight years, and she translated his autobiography into German. Diedrich reveals in fascinating detail their shared intellectual and cultural interests and how they worked together on his abolitionist writings." "As is clear from letters and diaries, Douglass was enchanted with his vivacious companion but believed that any liaison with a white woman would be fatal to his political mission. Assing was keenly aware of his dilemma but certain he would marry her once his mission was fulfilled. She was bitterly disappointed: after his wife's death, Douglass did remarry - but he married another woman. Assing committed suicide, leaving her estate to Douglass."--Jacket.

Astrophysics for Physicists

Astrophysics for Physicists
Author: Arnab Rai Choudhuri
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 491
Release: 2010-03-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1139486918

Designed for teaching astrophysics to physics students at advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level, this textbook also provides an overview of astrophysics for astrophysics graduate students, before they delve into more specialized volumes. Assuming background knowledge at the level of a physics major, the textbook develops astrophysics from the basics without requiring any previous study in astronomy or astrophysics. Physical concepts, mathematical derivations and observational data are combined in a balanced way to provide a unified treatment. Topics such as general relativity and plasma physics, which are not usually covered in physics courses but used extensively in astrophysics, are developed from first principles. While the emphasis is on developing the fundamentals thoroughly, recent important discoveries are highlighted at every stage.

Numerical Relativity: Starting from Scratch

Numerical Relativity: Starting from Scratch
Author: Thomas W. Baumgarte
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2021-04-08
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1108844111

A pedagogical and accessible introduction to numerical relativity, the key tool to model gravitational waves and black hole mergers.

Just Six Numbers

Just Six Numbers
Author: Martin Rees
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2008-08-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0786723580

How did a single "genesis event" create billions of galaxies, black holes, stars and planets? How did atoms assemble -- here on earth, and perhaps on other worlds -- into living beings intricate enough to ponder their origins? What fundamental laws govern our universe?This book describes new discoveries and offers remarkable insights into these fundamental questions. There are deep connections between stars and atoms, between the cosmos and the microworld. Just six numbers, imprinted in the "big bang," determine the essential features of our entire physical world. Moreover, cosmic evolution is astonishingly sensitive to the values of these numbers. If any one of them were "untuned," there could be no stars and no life. This realization offers a radically new perspective on our universe, our place in it, and the nature of physical laws.