Death by Black Hole

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a science book. Here’s why: to understand most science — at least the physics part that people like to write about — you have to understand something about quantum theory, relativity, and a bit of string theory. Not enough to explain them to someone else, but enough to be able to tell yourself a good story about them. I have a tenuous grasp on relativity: if something goes reallyreallyreally fast then it also gets reallyreallyreally heavy and time goes reallyreallyreally slowly for that object. But quantum physics? The electron might be there, but it might not? Or the nine (or fifteen or whatever it is these days) dimensions of space that string theory requires? Waaaaayyyyy over my head.*

Don’t get me wrong: I like science. My favorite chapter in this book was all the neat things you can learn about the world with a stick and the sun. I take a small amount of pride knowing that if the moon is lit on the right-hand side, then it’s waxing. Being able to observe the world around you is a Good Thing. Being able to make predictions from that is an even Better Thing.

That pretty much sums up my reaction to Death by Black Hole: the bits I could understand were well-explained and entertaining (although a bit repetitive, since this is a compilation of previously published columns from Natural History some background facts get repeated a few times), and the parts about very small, very fast things (and how they affect the universe at large) were not so interesting.

Oh, also? Death by Black Hole is very good at making you feel very small. And maybe like the heat death of the universe is a bit depressing.

Death by Black Hole: Recommended

* Doug once lent me a book to help me understand how there could be a before time started if there was no time. Needless to say, I only made it through the first couple of chapters before I got a headache.