Black Hole Survival Guide
Bodley Head £9.99 HB
We all love black holes. There’s something captivating about these mysterious, scary objects that can rip every particle in our body apart should we get too close. But did you know that black holes, quite literally, “are nothing”? This wonderful statement by Janna Levin, towards the end of the first
Staying safe: learn how to avoid being vaporised by a black hole chapter of Black Hole
Survival Guide, sets the scene for her new book.
Reading on, we are given all the information we currently know about black holes, as well as some conjecture. Early chapters explore the nature of gravity, time, the event horizon and what it would mean should you cross it. There’s a chapter devoted to astrophysics, discussing quasars and the groundbreaking image of a supermassive black hole captured by the Event Horizon Telescope. The chapters of the book, however, which I found most enjoyable, and which made my head hurt a little, explore the quantum mechanical nature of black holes. Here the author explains nicely how black holes can evaporate, the crisis that is the black hole informationloss paradox, and how everything could just be a hologram. She also likens a black hole to a TARDIS: could there be another Universe inside?
Luckily, Janna Levin has a talent for explaining mind-boggling concepts; no prior knowledge is needed and no crazy equations are used. Despite the wealth of content, the book is not long, and the chapters are digestible and provide good breaks to allow you to pause and think. The language is conversational and, in places, rather poetic.
Perhaps the book’s greatest draw is the survival guide element. I really enjoyed the fact that this is written from the reader’s perspective, setting out the experiences you would have if you are unfortunate enough to fall into a black hole. You do actually get handy tips about how to avoid the extreme astrophysical phenomena that could result in your vaporisation. Beware of black hole jets!
This book will really get you thinking, scratching your head, and eventually understanding the nature of black holes. Why don’t black holes have hair? Read the Black Hole Survival Guide to find out.
★★★★★