Author(s): Carlo Rovelli

Science | Staff Picks

A mesmerizing trip to the strange new world of white holes, from Carlo Rovelli, the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics.

Let us journey, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli, into the heart of a black hole. Let us slip beyond its boundary, the horizon, and tumble - on and on - down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we'll see geometry fold, we'll feel the equations draw tight around us. Eventually, we'll pass it - the remains of a star, deep and dense and falling further far. And then - the bottom. Where time and space end, and the white hole is born . . .

With lightness and magic, here Rovelli traces the ongoing adventure of his own cutting-edge research, of the uncertainty and joy of going where we've not yet been.

Guiding us to the edge of theory and experiment, he invites us to go beyond, to experience the fever and the disquiet of science. Here is the extraordinary life of a white hole.

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Reviewed by Dan:

Physics for Literary Thinkers, Rovelli contrasts the descent into a black hole with Dante's through Hell. He uses Einstien as a guide (as Virgil), until he reaches a point where space breaks down and the old math cannot lead... It's here where this renowned physicist brings us to the other end of the black hole - the white hole. Here, where time is reversed. Lyrical, sublime, accessible - this book is a gift to non-STEM minds wanting to understand the nature of the universe.