Gravitational waves dominated headlines recently when a team of scientists discovered their existence, further proving Einstein’s general theory of relativity. These elusive waves are the sound of two black holes colliding a billion light years away, representing the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted and confirming that black holes are bottomless gravitational pits.
This fascinating discovery can be difficult to wrap your head around, but we have a solution. The following books will make you feel like Jesse Pinkman.
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Black Holes Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space
By Janna Levin
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 the elusive, headline-making gravitational waves.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
By Carlo Rovelli
Carlo Rovelli brings a playful, entertaining, and mind-bending introduction to modern physics, offering surprising—and surprisingly easy to grasp—explanations of Einstein’s general relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary particles, gravitational waves, black holes, the complex architecture of the universe, and the role humans play in this weird and wonderful world.
The Hunt for Vulcan
By Thomas Levenson
The captivating, all-but-forgotten story of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and the search for a planet that never existed. A dramatic human story of an epic quest, The Hunt for Vulcan offers insight into how science really advances (as opposed to the way we’re taught about it in school) and how the best work of the greatest scientists reveals an artist’s sensibility.