What do you think?
Rate this book
Valo pimeydessä : mustat aukot, maailmankaikkeus ja me
Kansainvälisen huippututkijan teos tunnetusta ja tuntemattomasta universumista
Ensimmäinen valokuva mustasta aukosta oli tieteellinen sensaatio. Sadat miljoonat ihmiset ympäri maailmaa seurasivat livelähetystä, jossa Heino Falcke esitteli kuvan huhtikuussa 2019. Se oli ensimmäinen konkreettinen todiste mustista aukoista, joiden olemassaolon Einstein oli ennustanut suhteellisuusteorian perusteella yli sata vuotta sitten. Valo pimeydessä kertoo Falcken johtaman Event Horizon Telescope -työryhmän tiestä mustan aukon kuvaamiseen. Mustia aukkoja syntyy ulkoavaruuteen, kun massiivinen tähti kuolee ja siinä oleva aine tiivistyy. Pieneen tilaan pakkautunut suuri massa tuottaa valtavasti gravitaatiovoimaa, joka nielaisee kaiken lähelle tulevan, myös valon. Musta aukko on kuin portti tuonpuoleiseen: se avaa ulottuvuuden, jossa aika ja tila loppuvat. Siksi sitä ei voi tutkia tieteellisin menetelmin. Valo pimeydessä pohtii, mikä merkitys mustilla aukoilla on ihmiselle, ja kertoo, mikä pitää todellisuuttamme koossa.
Heino Falcke on radioastronomian ja astrohiukkasfysiikan professori Radboudin yliopistossa Nijmegenissa, Hollannissa. Hänelle on myönnetty lukuisia tiedepalkintoja, muun muassa Spinoza-palkinto. Hartaaksi kristityksi tunnustautuva Falcke on sanonut, että usko on hänelle sisäisen rauhan lähde ja motivaatio tieteen harjoittamiselle.
Jörg Römer on vapaa tiedetoimittaja ja Spiegel Online -sivuston tiedesivujen vastaava toimittaja.
”Falcken kyky kertoa pitkälle erikoistuneesta tieteenalasta on verraton: Hän osaa selittää Einsteinin suhteellisuusteorian vaikka alakoululaiselle.”
- Spiegel
Ensimmäinen valokuva mustasta aukosta oli tieteellinen sensaatio. Sadat miljoonat ihmiset ympäri maailmaa seurasivat livelähetystä, jossa Heino Falcke esitteli kuvan huhtikuussa 2019. Se oli ensimmäinen konkreettinen todiste mustista aukoista, joiden olemassaolon Einstein oli ennustanut suhteellisuusteorian perusteella yli sata vuotta sitten. Valo pimeydessä kertoo Falcken johtaman Event Horizon Telescope -työryhmän tiestä mustan aukon kuvaamiseen. Mustia aukkoja syntyy ulkoavaruuteen, kun massiivinen tähti kuolee ja siinä oleva aine tiivistyy. Pieneen tilaan pakkautunut suuri massa tuottaa valtavasti gravitaatiovoimaa, joka nielaisee kaiken lähelle tulevan, myös valon. Musta aukko on kuin portti tuonpuoleiseen: se avaa ulottuvuuden, jossa aika ja tila loppuvat. Siksi sitä ei voi tutkia tieteellisin menetelmin. Valo pimeydessä pohtii, mikä merkitys mustilla aukoilla on ihmiselle, ja kertoo, mikä pitää todellisuuttamme koossa.
Heino Falcke on radioastronomian ja astrohiukkasfysiikan professori Radboudin yliopistossa Nijmegenissa, Hollannissa. Hänelle on myönnetty lukuisia tiedepalkintoja, muun muassa Spinoza-palkinto. Hartaaksi kristityksi tunnustautuva Falcke on sanonut, että usko on hänelle sisäisen rauhan lähde ja motivaatio tieteen harjoittamiselle.
Jörg Römer on vapaa tiedetoimittaja ja Spiegel Online -sivuston tiedesivujen vastaava toimittaja.
”Falcken kyky kertoa pitkälle erikoistuneesta tieteenalasta on verraton: Hän osaa selittää Einsteinin suhteellisuusteorian vaikka alakoululaiselle.”
- Spiegel
Audiobook
First published October 24, 2020
123 people are currently reading
1067 people want to read
About the author
Heino Falcke
14 books2 followersHeino Falcke is a German professor of radio astronomy and astroparticle physics at the Radboud University Nijmegen. He was a winner of the 2011 Spinoza Prize. His main field of study is black holes. He lives in Berlin.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
October 24, 2020
Diese Rezension bezieht sich auf die deutsche Fassung, erschienen bei Klett-Cotta.
Im April 2019 ging ein Bild durch die Medien: das erste Bild eines schwarzen Loches. Es ist auf dem Titel dieses Sachbuchs abgebildet und etwas größer als Tafel im Anhang. Ein paar Tage Medienaufmerksamkeit war dem Leiter des internationalen Forschungsteams gewiss, doch nach einiger Zeit flaute es wieder ab. Mich lies es nie los, und ich freute mich, mehr über seine Entstehung und Hintergründe zu erfahren.
Tatsächlich zeigt dieses Bild kein schwarzes Loch, sondern den Schatten des Ereignishorizonts in der Mitte, umgeben von einem Lichtkranz, das gebeugt von der Schwerkraft einen Ring formt. Es ist der bildliche Beweis in Form des supermassiven schwarzen Lochs im Zentrum der M87-Galaxie. Frühere Bilder gab es, allerdings waren das immer Simulationen, die aus der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie abgeleitet wurden.
Für die Entstehung des Bildes konnte kein einzelnes Radioteleskop verwendet werden, sondern erstmalig musste in einem weltweiten Forschungsteam sechs Anlagen miteinander verbunden werden - geeicht über Atomuhren und Quasare, kalibriert, und in einem ausgeklügelten Bildgebungsverfahren berechnet ergab das nach jahrelanger Arbeit, etlichen Millionen Forschungsgeldern genau dieses Bild und eine umfangreiche Artikelserie.
Mich faszinierte diese Ingenieursleistung, die verbundene Genialität und Disziplin der mathematischen Berechnungen und die gesamte Motivation, die dieses Unterfangen vorantrieb. Das Buch transportiert all das ganz hervorragend, man spürt, wie der Autor von seinem Baby erzählt.
Dabei gleitet er nie ins unverständlich wissenschaftliche ab, das nur für Wissenschaftler zugänglich wäre, sondern bleibt immer populärwissenschaftlich zugänglich.
Irritierend fand ich anfangs die häufigen Zitate aus dem katholischen Glauben, der Bibel und der zugehörigen Theologie. Bis ich verstand, dass dies ganz wesentlich zum Charakter des Autors gehört. Tatsächlich fand ich es als abwechslungsreich, einmal einen Physiker berichten zu hören, der kein Agnostiker oder Atheist ist. Das letzte Kapitel, bei dem er zu einem Rundumschlag in Metaphysik ausholt, wurde mir dann aber doch zu viel und ich überlas es. Denn die wesentlichen, und für mich faszinierenden Erkenntnisse hatte ich zu dem Zeitpunkt bereits aus dem Buch gezogen.
Angereichert mit genügend Zitaten und Links auf Pressekonferenzen, die ein leichtes Nachvollziehen ermöglichen, ergibt sich ein lesenswertes aber nicht perfektes Gesamtbild.
Es gibt Stimmen, die dieses Bild eines schwarzen Lochs als epochal bezeichnen und teilen die Astronomie als davor und danach ein. Wer sich mehr für die Hintergrunde und Bedeutung interessiert und zugleich nicht die harte Mathematik mitnehmen möchte, dem sei dieses unterhaltende und sehr informative, aber auch persönliche Buch ans Herz gelegt.
Im April 2019 ging ein Bild durch die Medien: das erste Bild eines schwarzen Loches. Es ist auf dem Titel dieses Sachbuchs abgebildet und etwas größer als Tafel im Anhang. Ein paar Tage Medienaufmerksamkeit war dem Leiter des internationalen Forschungsteams gewiss, doch nach einiger Zeit flaute es wieder ab. Mich lies es nie los, und ich freute mich, mehr über seine Entstehung und Hintergründe zu erfahren.
Tatsächlich zeigt dieses Bild kein schwarzes Loch, sondern den Schatten des Ereignishorizonts in der Mitte, umgeben von einem Lichtkranz, das gebeugt von der Schwerkraft einen Ring formt. Es ist der bildliche Beweis in Form des supermassiven schwarzen Lochs im Zentrum der M87-Galaxie. Frühere Bilder gab es, allerdings waren das immer Simulationen, die aus der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie abgeleitet wurden.
Für die Entstehung des Bildes konnte kein einzelnes Radioteleskop verwendet werden, sondern erstmalig musste in einem weltweiten Forschungsteam sechs Anlagen miteinander verbunden werden - geeicht über Atomuhren und Quasare, kalibriert, und in einem ausgeklügelten Bildgebungsverfahren berechnet ergab das nach jahrelanger Arbeit, etlichen Millionen Forschungsgeldern genau dieses Bild und eine umfangreiche Artikelserie.
Mich faszinierte diese Ingenieursleistung, die verbundene Genialität und Disziplin der mathematischen Berechnungen und die gesamte Motivation, die dieses Unterfangen vorantrieb. Das Buch transportiert all das ganz hervorragend, man spürt, wie der Autor von seinem Baby erzählt.
Dabei gleitet er nie ins unverständlich wissenschaftliche ab, das nur für Wissenschaftler zugänglich wäre, sondern bleibt immer populärwissenschaftlich zugänglich.
Irritierend fand ich anfangs die häufigen Zitate aus dem katholischen Glauben, der Bibel und der zugehörigen Theologie. Bis ich verstand, dass dies ganz wesentlich zum Charakter des Autors gehört. Tatsächlich fand ich es als abwechslungsreich, einmal einen Physiker berichten zu hören, der kein Agnostiker oder Atheist ist. Das letzte Kapitel, bei dem er zu einem Rundumschlag in Metaphysik ausholt, wurde mir dann aber doch zu viel und ich überlas es. Denn die wesentlichen, und für mich faszinierenden Erkenntnisse hatte ich zu dem Zeitpunkt bereits aus dem Buch gezogen.
Angereichert mit genügend Zitaten und Links auf Pressekonferenzen, die ein leichtes Nachvollziehen ermöglichen, ergibt sich ein lesenswertes aber nicht perfektes Gesamtbild.
Es gibt Stimmen, die dieses Bild eines schwarzen Lochs als epochal bezeichnen und teilen die Astronomie als davor und danach ein. Wer sich mehr für die Hintergrunde und Bedeutung interessiert und zugleich nicht die harte Mathematik mitnehmen möchte, dem sei dieses unterhaltende und sehr informative, aber auch persönliche Buch ans Herz gelegt.
April 5, 2021
Dit boek bestaat uit grofweg drie delen. Het eerste deel vertelt over de wetenschap die schuil gaat achter de zwarte gaten, vanaf de eerste conceptie tot de uiteindelijke ontdekking in de kosmos.
Het meest interessante deel was het tweede deel, waarin Falcke de totstandkoming van de foto beschrijft van conceptie tot realisatie. Een mooi en uniek inkijkje in de hedendaagse sterrenkunde, waarbij het verkrijgen van budget de meest moeizame stap lijkt te zijn. Om vervolgens via The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), een mooi voorbeeld van internationale samenwerking, het uiteindelijke zwarte gat vast te leggen.
Mooi is de omschrijving die Falcke had toen de foto van het zwarte gat wereldnieuws werd. Het toont op ontroerende wijze aan hoe Falcke dit beleefde, als kroon op zo'n 20 jarig werk.
Het boek eindigt met het derde deel, Falcke’s kijk op kosmos en menselijk bestaan. Dit laatste deel vond ik persoonlijk wat minder. Zonder Falcke zowel op professioneel als persoonlijk vlak teniet te willen doen, vond ik de rol die hij God hierin toebedeelt: volgens hem maakt het ontstaan van het universum God als eerste oorzaak tot werkelijkheid. Daarover valt natuurlijk te redetwisten, maar deze filosofische oefening hoort uiteindelijk mijns inziens niet thuis in een wetenschappelijke beschrijving over zwarte gaten.
De foto is geleend van de volgende site:
https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-...
Het meest interessante deel was het tweede deel, waarin Falcke de totstandkoming van de foto beschrijft van conceptie tot realisatie. Een mooi en uniek inkijkje in de hedendaagse sterrenkunde, waarbij het verkrijgen van budget de meest moeizame stap lijkt te zijn. Om vervolgens via The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), een mooi voorbeeld van internationale samenwerking, het uiteindelijke zwarte gat vast te leggen.
Mooi is de omschrijving die Falcke had toen de foto van het zwarte gat wereldnieuws werd. Het toont op ontroerende wijze aan hoe Falcke dit beleefde, als kroon op zo'n 20 jarig werk.
Het boek eindigt met het derde deel, Falcke’s kijk op kosmos en menselijk bestaan. Dit laatste deel vond ik persoonlijk wat minder. Zonder Falcke zowel op professioneel als persoonlijk vlak teniet te willen doen, vond ik de rol die hij God hierin toebedeelt: volgens hem maakt het ontstaan van het universum God als eerste oorzaak tot werkelijkheid. Daarover valt natuurlijk te redetwisten, maar deze filosofische oefening hoort uiteindelijk mijns inziens niet thuis in een wetenschappelijke beschrijving over zwarte gaten.
De foto is geleend van de volgende site:
https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-...
January 4, 2021
Phenomenal Achievement, Well Written Story Of How It Happened. That may leave a bad aftertaste with its final section. 200 years ago, humanity didn't even know black holes existed - nor did actual photography quite exist yet. Now, not only do many of us carry around highly detailed cameras in our pockets, but humanity - led, in this effort, by this very author - has now taken a picture of a black hole. Falcke does a remarkable job through the first three (of four) sections of this tale setting the stage for that ultimate day in April 2019 when his team held half a dozen press conferences simultaneously all over the world announcing what they had done. He also spends a bit of time in the third section discussing the fallout of that day through about a year ish later, as the COVID pandemic changed the way most of the world worked... but didn't really change much for this already global team. The way Falcke builds the history of the achievements that led to his is nothing short of poetic, yet also very easy to follow along with for those of us *without* PhDs in advanced theoretical astrophysics, and is truly remarkable. Even when Falcke begins speaking of even more theoretical concepts such as Einstein-Rosenberg Bridges (aka "wormholes") and Hawking Radiation, he grounds these concepts in the work that has already been done. Even when speaking of the intermingling of religion and science sporadically through much of the text, Falcke is still remarkably grounded. But then, in the final chapter or two, he goes off into more "Your Mileage May Vary" territory when he begins speaking directly of God in light of what is shown via black holes. And that is where the potentially bad aftertaste comes in. Had Falcke made the worldwide announcement truly the climax of the book, with an epilogue of the team's post-2019 efforts, this could arguably have been a bit tighter and less potentially controversial. Still, a very well written tale about one of the most monumental human achievements of my own (mid 1980s-forward) lifetime, and thus very much recommended.
May 24, 2022
Der Autor ist einer der Organisatoren, der von Anfang an bei dem enormen Projekt dabei war ein Bild eines Schwarzen Lochs zu machen.
Das Buch beginnt damit die notwendigen Grundlagen der Astrophysik für schwarze Löcher zu erklären. Das passiert allerdings auf eine sehr angenehm populärwissenschaftlichen Weise, die einen Nicht-Physiker nicht abhängt. Ich würde sogar sagen, dass ich in diesem Buch die bisher beste Erklärung zur relativen Raumzeit gelesen habe.
Die zweite Hälfte des Buches ist dann die wundervolle Erzählung der gesamten Reise des Projekts von Idee bis Bild. Inklusive vieler Schritte an die ich nie gedacht hätte, wie zum Beispiel Finanzierung oder auch nur den Absprachen zwischen so vielen verschiedenen Wissenschaftlern. Aber es gibt auch viele Reiseberichte zu Teleskopen jenseits sämtlicher Zivilisation und der Arbeit dort.
Es ist wirklich ein Buch das fasziniert und wunderbar zu lesen ist.
Das Buch beginnt damit die notwendigen Grundlagen der Astrophysik für schwarze Löcher zu erklären. Das passiert allerdings auf eine sehr angenehm populärwissenschaftlichen Weise, die einen Nicht-Physiker nicht abhängt. Ich würde sogar sagen, dass ich in diesem Buch die bisher beste Erklärung zur relativen Raumzeit gelesen habe.
Die zweite Hälfte des Buches ist dann die wundervolle Erzählung der gesamten Reise des Projekts von Idee bis Bild. Inklusive vieler Schritte an die ich nie gedacht hätte, wie zum Beispiel Finanzierung oder auch nur den Absprachen zwischen so vielen verschiedenen Wissenschaftlern. Aber es gibt auch viele Reiseberichte zu Teleskopen jenseits sämtlicher Zivilisation und der Arbeit dort.
Es ist wirklich ein Buch das fasziniert und wunderbar zu lesen ist.
September 5, 2021
El libro tiene algunas secciones interesantes y otras un tanto aburridas. El vocabulario que utiliza el autor es muy sencillo, lo que facilita el entendimiento. No puedo decir que estoy específicamente de acuerdo con sus opiniones sobre la relación entre la ciencia y la religión, pero sí en que siempre debemos ser humildes al buscar nuevo conocimiento.
Recomiendo la lectura si se tiene interés en conocer más sobre todo el proceso que se llevó a cabo para capturar la primera fotografía de un agujero negro.
Recomiendo la lectura si se tiene interés en conocer más sobre todo el proceso que se llevó a cabo para capturar la primera fotografía de un agujero negro.
Read
October 17, 2023We have seen Heino Falcke in a TV interview and I was impressed about his ability to bring such far away things to live.
So my wife decided to give me this book as christmas present.
As far I am till page 20 and it is impressing what a way he came to bring this picture to live.
So my wife decided to give me this book as christmas present.
As far I am till page 20 and it is impressing what a way he came to bring this picture to live.
July 19, 2024
კარგი, ინტელექტუალური თავმდაბლობით გამსჭვალული წიგნია (Intellectual humility).
ავტორი მორწმუნე ასტროფიზიკოსია, რომელსაც მეცნიერების, ფილოსოფიის და რელიგიის ურთიერთმიმართებაც აინტერესებს. ბევრ საკამათო რამეს წერს, მაგრამ შემაწუხებელი, გამაღიზიანებელი და ტოქსიკური არსადაა. დამაფიქრებელი წიგნი გამოუვიდა, დიალოგიური და არადოგმატური.
4-ს ვუწერ მხოლოდ იმიტომ, რომ ცოტა დამღალა საორგანიზაციო საკითხების - მეცნიერების შიდა სამზარეულოს აღწერამ. ზოგადად, ეგ მხარეც მაინტერესებს, მაგრამ კონკრეტულად ამ წიგნში, ჩემი აზრით, გადაამეტა ავტორმა - თუმცა, სულ ოდნავ.
ავტორი მორწმუნე ასტროფიზიკოსია, რომელსაც მეცნიერების, ფილოსოფიის და რელიგიის ურთიერთმიმართებაც აინტერესებს. ბევრ საკამათო რამეს წერს, მაგრამ შემაწუხებელი, გამაღიზიანებელი და ტოქსიკური არსადაა. დამაფიქრებელი წიგნი გამოუვიდა, დიალოგიური და არადოგმატური.
4-ს ვუწერ მხოლოდ იმიტომ, რომ ცოტა დამღალა საორგანიზაციო საკითხების - მეცნიერების შიდა სამზარეულოს აღწერამ. ზოგადად, ეგ მხარეც მაინტერესებს, მაგრამ კონკრეტულად ამ წიგნში, ჩემი აზრით, გადაამეტა ავტორმა - თუმცა, სულ ოდნავ.
April 7, 2024
The science aspects and even the career parts were quite interesting but I found quite a few things incredibly annoying.
a) A lot of the autobiographical aspects were irrelevant. I don't need to know how addicted you are to your phone or what the names of your children are. Some things added an air of humor but some parts were so indepth they got annoying. They overtook big chunks of the book that I would've prefered to be about the actual science.
b) I get wanting to talk about science and religion, I do, but in the end it was so much and so many unnecessary personal aspects that I just don't think they belong in this book. Some of it had interesting connections but for the most part, I just ended up annoyed with how little it had to do with the actual topic of the book.
I'd still recommend it because I found the actual research to be very interesting but just know going in that this falls into the trap a lot of nonfictions fall into; wanting too desperately to be a memoir. Of course, the career aspect needs it but if I want the details of your personal life, I'll read an autobiography.
a) A lot of the autobiographical aspects were irrelevant. I don't need to know how addicted you are to your phone or what the names of your children are. Some things added an air of humor but some parts were so indepth they got annoying. They overtook big chunks of the book that I would've prefered to be about the actual science.
b) I get wanting to talk about science and religion, I do, but in the end it was so much and so many unnecessary personal aspects that I just don't think they belong in this book. Some of it had interesting connections but for the most part, I just ended up annoyed with how little it had to do with the actual topic of the book.
I'd still recommend it because I found the actual research to be very interesting but just know going in that this falls into the trap a lot of nonfictions fall into; wanting too desperately to be a memoir. Of course, the career aspect needs it but if I want the details of your personal life, I'll read an autobiography.
January 4, 2021
„Die Physik erschließt mir neue Wunder; sie nimmt mir aber nicht den Glauben, sondern erweitert und vertieft ihn.“ Diese persönliche Erfahrung vermag der Autor vortrefflich aber unaufdringlich zu vermitteln. Sein Buch ist eine ansprechende Mischung aus persönlicher Erzählung und fachkundiger Erörterung über die Größe und Genialität unseres Universums und den menschlichen Anstrengungen, selbigem auf den Grund zu gehen. Heino Falcke bezeugt dabei, ohne überzeugen zu wollen, dass Wissenschaft und persönlicher Glaube so gar nicht in Konflikt stehen müssen, sondern gemeinsam unsere Freude an den Geheimnissen unseres Universums (und unseres Daseins) vergrößern können. Wer schwarze Löcher, geheimnisvolle Teilchen und die schiere Größe des Alls spannend findet, kommt hier so oder so voll auf seine Kosten. Zuletzt macht dieses Buch aber auch deutlich, dass es hier nicht einfach um die Erfahrungen eines einzelnen Individuums geht, sondern um eine globale Errungenschaft der Menschheit, die uns alle um die großen Fragen unseres Wohers und Wohins vereint.
March 27, 2021
This is an interesting and well-written account of the theoretical and experimental physics that led to the first photo of what is probably a black hole. Unfortunately, at the end, it devolves into the author's personal concept of God. There's value in discussing how science and religion are compatible. I'm not sure I even disagree with anything the author has to say. The arguments just seemed off-topic in context. The first 80% of the book is definitely worth reading, though. It's a fascinating story.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
June 27, 2021
Sehr gutes Buch, ich fand die religiösen Teile am Ende etwas irritierend, aber meine Erkenntnisse aus dem Buch habe ich auch vorher gezogen. Auch als Atheist ist das Buch wirklich gut lesbar, bitte nicht von meinem Kommentar abschrecken lassen!
December 19, 2020
3.4 Sterne.
Es war wirklich interessant zu lesen, wie das erste Bild eines schwarzen Loches zustande kam. Wie viele Menschen und wie viel Arbeit und Planung dahinter steckt. Dafür Daumen hoch!
Das letzte Unterkapitel des letzten Kapitels, in dem Falcke seine religiösen Ansichten kund tut, hätte ich persönlich nicht gebraucht.
Es war wirklich interessant zu lesen, wie das erste Bild eines schwarzen Loches zustande kam. Wie viele Menschen und wie viel Arbeit und Planung dahinter steckt. Dafür Daumen hoch!
Das letzte Unterkapitel des letzten Kapitels, in dem Falcke seine religiösen Ansichten kund tut, hätte ich persönlich nicht gebraucht.
January 29, 2022
Geweldige 280 pagina's, totdat hij God gaat bewijzen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2023
Very passionately written thus a very engaging read.
August 22, 2024
Super anschaulich und spannend formuliert
May 19, 2024
Really astounding to what lengths a man is able to go to see a hole. Commendable and I do respect that. Even more so considering the fact that this guy says that seeing an apple fall to the ground is a proof for gravity and so the creation of Earth is a proof that god exists. Even more so when seeing him refuse a possibility that gravity can be expressed in bits and bytes or that we live in an incredibly complex simulation or that predeterminism may be a thing. But god? Sure thing, seeing me pass through this proverbial fog of life, guiding me, standing watch over me. Why even bother with physics, why try to explain things rationally when you can just argue with god behind it all. What a joke. Heino Falcke more like hejno sračiek.
June 6, 2024
What could have been an excellent book about Black Holes is completely tinted and ruined by his BS religious thoughts. Usually, science divulgation books waste 20% with reference, this one wastes another 10% with religious BS.
Whether not for the religious BS that he tossed in each chapter, it would have been a good book about the history of chasing massive, elusive Black Holes. His explanation of why light has constant speed is BS, as well as the story behind Einstein's postulate on light speed.
Between the religious BS and the many errors my eyes are sore. This is the first science divulgation book that I rated so low and is a pity since we need people to move to STEM, but this BS book is only capable of pushing them away.
This means that even in a system made up of three-point masses, the development becomes irreversible and unpredictable. ---> BS the three-body problem has an exact, though not easy, solution.
Pathetic how he tries to imprime some excitement to VLBI Project Management...I've done more riskier things in my projects.
In Arizona is the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope where Jesuits looks for They’re searching for asteroids that could potentially pose a danger to Earth. How is it not that "God" protects us or will it be his "warm hand" that will guide the meteorites away from the earth...religions and their forms of scam are pathetic.
The analogies he made to explain the most simple concepts are lame. I know that publishers, in their desire to sell, or as they say, reach a wide audience, tell authors to keep their writing in simple language. But they forget that those of us who are interested in popular scientific books are STEM people, the grocer on the corner is never going to read these types of books, they are not of interest to them. Nevertheless, this author has reached complete stupidity with analogies.
Though is a very good example of international scientific cooperation to achieve such a remarkable finding, that is why this religious clown should be allowed to toss BS religion bullshit along the book, it cast unnecessary shadows.
The correct equation is E^2 = (mc2)2 + (pc)^2
His book as well as Sabine's( Sabine Hossenfelder) books show how physicists are of the view that physics is stalled and has reached its limit of knowledge, are just German Physicists? I think this is due to the conception of German society that lacks creative thinking and leans toward systematization, we have to be patient, knowledge has not been generated in one day, or one generation, and stalled for a long time due to several reasons, mainly religious BS that populate the author's brain. Eventually will overcome today's situation and with experimentation and solid theories will learn how the universe works. My advice take the religious BS from your head if you want to do STEM.
Contrary to your BS religious view, the world is absolutely predictable, free will does not exist. The problem this guy has is common in IT, if garbage in, garbage out. Religious BS entered his mind so we can't expect him to process anything else. If you want to see why the world is predictable, observe two things: you are born and you die, if things happen in the middle that seems unpredictable to you, I assure you that when you reach a certain age and look back you realize that there could be no other way, You just didn't know it or wanted to see it. The second example happens today in Argentina, they elected a president who is deranged, an insane person, it was something random, absolutely, not Argentina per se history, and the manipulations of the right, it became a psychiatric hospital, therefore They chose a mentally ill person to govern them, the same thing happened in Germany with Hitler and hyper-inflation.
- Book Cites
- To make things even more confusing, Einstein also found out that at high energy levels, light sometimes acts like a particle. In such instances, we speak of photons, wave packets inside of which light continues to oscillate while they whiz through space like little parcels of light --> That's wrong, not even the more lame science divulgation books say that.
- A real cat is either dead or alive, not both. If, however, the cat were a lonely electron in empty space, far from other matter, then the statement would be logically correct. ---> That's BS since that would imply that a cat is different from an electron and a note made of them.
- Without clocks, there is no time; without a yardstick, there is no space ---> More BS than a horse, since Neanderthals(or even Kingdom Monera) had time and have no clocks, space, and no sticks otherwise they couldn't live would space or time
- An idea that isn’t shared is like a seed that’s never planted. I like that phrase, though when religious BS is planted it has just grown shit.
- [At 3,200 m] For some people the thin air takes some getting used to; they get rather short of breath. I have a mild headache myself, but thankfully I’m able to get up the stairs to the control room well enough; all that soccer and volleyball playing is paying off after all. ---> Pathetic 3,200 m headache he never went for vacations to Alpes? Does he never work in the Andean?
- Claude Shannon's Information Entropy theorem tells us that if I just continue to relay information without making corrections, information loss and disorder will continually increase. A hot bowl of alphabet soup will never, within any conceivable span of time, become a comprehensible book ---> With the same concept, following Richard Dawkins's theory of natural selection, then man could not have appeared.
- Nevertheless, most physicists assume that black holes store information in one way or another and release it again as they give off radiation—and that the radiation black holes emit even contains a secret code, which, at least in theory, it might be possible to decipher to learn things about their past
- Everything we see today—every form of matter or energy and even us ourselves—can ultimately be traced back to this primordial energy.---> So he denies being "created" by "god" even though he can claim that "god" did the Big Bang since the bible denies that. If he came up with the BS alegoría is plain BS.
- Dark matter becomes concentrated under the influence of its own gravity ---> Dark matter does not act through gravity otherwise it would have been measured. Dark matter/force is called something not yet explained.
- Physics textbooks simply do not allow for a matter that suddenly starts thinking for itself, forming its own opinions and personality, and exercising creativity—and nevertheless, here we are.---> But biology books do, and is called Natural Selection. That's why I said that his religious BS blinds him.
- The laws of gravity are real because an apple falls; for the same reason, God as the prime mover is real, because the world came into being. ---> That's religious BS from T. de Aquino and just simply can be refuted says if there's a mover for everything someone should move the "prime" mover otherwise the analogy falls apart because moving can be breaking at any point.
Whether not for the religious BS that he tossed in each chapter, it would have been a good book about the history of chasing massive, elusive Black Holes. His explanation of why light has constant speed is BS, as well as the story behind Einstein's postulate on light speed.
Between the religious BS and the many errors my eyes are sore. This is the first science divulgation book that I rated so low and is a pity since we need people to move to STEM, but this BS book is only capable of pushing them away.
This means that even in a system made up of three-point masses, the development becomes irreversible and unpredictable. ---> BS the three-body problem has an exact, though not easy, solution.
Pathetic how he tries to imprime some excitement to VLBI Project Management...I've done more riskier things in my projects.
In Arizona is the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope where Jesuits looks for They’re searching for asteroids that could potentially pose a danger to Earth. How is it not that "God" protects us or will it be his "warm hand" that will guide the meteorites away from the earth...religions and their forms of scam are pathetic.
The analogies he made to explain the most simple concepts are lame. I know that publishers, in their desire to sell, or as they say, reach a wide audience, tell authors to keep their writing in simple language. But they forget that those of us who are interested in popular scientific books are STEM people, the grocer on the corner is never going to read these types of books, they are not of interest to them. Nevertheless, this author has reached complete stupidity with analogies.
Though is a very good example of international scientific cooperation to achieve such a remarkable finding, that is why this religious clown should be allowed to toss BS religion bullshit along the book, it cast unnecessary shadows.
The correct equation is E^2 = (mc2)2 + (pc)^2
His book as well as Sabine's( Sabine Hossenfelder) books show how physicists are of the view that physics is stalled and has reached its limit of knowledge, are just German Physicists? I think this is due to the conception of German society that lacks creative thinking and leans toward systematization, we have to be patient, knowledge has not been generated in one day, or one generation, and stalled for a long time due to several reasons, mainly religious BS that populate the author's brain. Eventually will overcome today's situation and with experimentation and solid theories will learn how the universe works. My advice take the religious BS from your head if you want to do STEM.
Contrary to your BS religious view, the world is absolutely predictable, free will does not exist. The problem this guy has is common in IT, if garbage in, garbage out. Religious BS entered his mind so we can't expect him to process anything else. If you want to see why the world is predictable, observe two things: you are born and you die, if things happen in the middle that seems unpredictable to you, I assure you that when you reach a certain age and look back you realize that there could be no other way, You just didn't know it or wanted to see it. The second example happens today in Argentina, they elected a president who is deranged, an insane person, it was something random, absolutely, not Argentina per se history, and the manipulations of the right, it became a psychiatric hospital, therefore They chose a mentally ill person to govern them, the same thing happened in Germany with Hitler and hyper-inflation.
- Book Cites
- To make things even more confusing, Einstein also found out that at high energy levels, light sometimes acts like a particle. In such instances, we speak of photons, wave packets inside of which light continues to oscillate while they whiz through space like little parcels of light --> That's wrong, not even the more lame science divulgation books say that.
- A real cat is either dead or alive, not both. If, however, the cat were a lonely electron in empty space, far from other matter, then the statement would be logically correct. ---> That's BS since that would imply that a cat is different from an electron and a note made of them.
- Without clocks, there is no time; without a yardstick, there is no space ---> More BS than a horse, since Neanderthals(or even Kingdom Monera) had time and have no clocks, space, and no sticks otherwise they couldn't live would space or time
- An idea that isn’t shared is like a seed that’s never planted. I like that phrase, though when religious BS is planted it has just grown shit.
- [At 3,200 m] For some people the thin air takes some getting used to; they get rather short of breath. I have a mild headache myself, but thankfully I’m able to get up the stairs to the control room well enough; all that soccer and volleyball playing is paying off after all. ---> Pathetic 3,200 m headache he never went for vacations to Alpes? Does he never work in the Andean?
- Claude Shannon's Information Entropy theorem tells us that if I just continue to relay information without making corrections, information loss and disorder will continually increase. A hot bowl of alphabet soup will never, within any conceivable span of time, become a comprehensible book ---> With the same concept, following Richard Dawkins's theory of natural selection, then man could not have appeared.
- Nevertheless, most physicists assume that black holes store information in one way or another and release it again as they give off radiation—and that the radiation black holes emit even contains a secret code, which, at least in theory, it might be possible to decipher to learn things about their past
- Everything we see today—every form of matter or energy and even us ourselves—can ultimately be traced back to this primordial energy.---> So he denies being "created" by "god" even though he can claim that "god" did the Big Bang since the bible denies that. If he came up with the BS alegoría is plain BS.
- Dark matter becomes concentrated under the influence of its own gravity ---> Dark matter does not act through gravity otherwise it would have been measured. Dark matter/force is called something not yet explained.
- Physics textbooks simply do not allow for a matter that suddenly starts thinking for itself, forming its own opinions and personality, and exercising creativity—and nevertheless, here we are.---> But biology books do, and is called Natural Selection. That's why I said that his religious BS blinds him.
- The laws of gravity are real because an apple falls; for the same reason, God as the prime mover is real, because the world came into being. ---> That's religious BS from T. de Aquino and just simply can be refuted says if there's a mover for everything someone should move the "prime" mover otherwise the analogy falls apart because moving can be breaking at any point.
July 7, 2021
Un libro muy bonito sobre la historia detrás de la primer foto de un ¡¡¡AGUJERO NEGRO!!!
Heino tiene la inteligencia para presentarnos las teorías de Hawking, Newton, Hubble, Planck y muchos más cómo si estuviéramos leyendo El Principito. El libro esta lleno de _fun facts_ sobre el mundo de la física cuántica.
El único error para mí fue desperdiciar las últimas páginas del libro introduciendo a Dios como una pieza más para entender lo que aún no se ha descubierto del universo, pero supongo que la fe de algunos es más grande que la de otros. Un grano en un pajar de aciertos.
Heino tiene la inteligencia para presentarnos las teorías de Hawking, Newton, Hubble, Planck y muchos más cómo si estuviéramos leyendo El Principito. El libro esta lleno de _fun facts_ sobre el mundo de la física cuántica.
El único error para mí fue desperdiciar las últimas páginas del libro introduciendo a Dios como una pieza más para entender lo que aún no se ha descubierto del universo, pero supongo que la fe de algunos es más grande que la de otros. Un grano en un pajar de aciertos.
March 14, 2021
Een verrassend toegankelijk boek over een complexe zoektocht naar hoe zwarte gaten er uitzien. Falcke neemt je mee met zijn interesses, internationale samenwerking, en de basis van dit baanbrekende onderzoek. Opmerkelijk is dat Falcke een gelovige wetenschapper is. Zelf vindt hij dat niet zo bijzonder, maar dat is het in de wereld van de astrofysica en de wetenschappelijke methode natuurlijk wel. Hij beargumenteert overtuigend dat geloof en wetenschap juist goed samen kan gaan. De moeite waard!
June 16, 2021
This book was really fascinating, I really enjoyed the whole crossing that he through until he got the photo besides the history and the explications about the cosmos and life
December 1, 2025
we humans are just specks of dust on a slightly bigger speck of dust in the immeasurable vastness of space. we can't cause stars to explode, we don't set the wheels of galaxies spinning, and it is not we who span the vault of heaven above us. but we can marvel at the universe and ask questions about it. we can have faith, hope, and love in this world - and that makes us stardust of a very special kind.
so maybe i teared up reading about the first photo of a black hole and what it meant for science and humanity. mind your own business.
this was honestly probably the most beautiful non-fiction science book i've ever read. and yes i teared up, multiple times in fact. heino falcke covered so many topics, from the theoretical science behind black holes, to the story of going out on expeditions, all the people that worked on this, how the photo came about, and ended it off beautifully with what this all means for the world of science and astronomy, but also for humankind in general. and this might be specific for me, but i loved reading from a christian scientist. heino falcke never lessened the science of what they did, but rather he showed how it fits perfectly into our religion and what we believe. this book, other than being such interesting astronomy to read about, is also definitely inspiration for me on how to live with christ while pursuing this career i've always dreamed about. how to actually build up my relationship with him through what i study, and what the universe tells us about our wonderful creator.
regardless of whether you're a christian or not, whether you're an astronomer or not, this is a beautiful book, and if you have any interest in black holes and the first photo ever taken of one, i highly recommend.
that's probably what it all comes down to, in faith and in science: maintaining hope that you'll be permitted to discover something new.
the here is the space with which i can communicate. and then there is the beyond, the space that lies fundamentally beyond my ability to know it. i learn nothing of it; it stares at me in silence.
death shakes us to our core. the trembling before the finality of an ending is one of our most fundamental, one of our most ancient emotions.
science is not an absolute method for explaining everything in and beyond the world, but rather a celebration of human creativity and curiosity.
so maybe i teared up reading about the first photo of a black hole and what it meant for science and humanity. mind your own business.
this was honestly probably the most beautiful non-fiction science book i've ever read. and yes i teared up, multiple times in fact. heino falcke covered so many topics, from the theoretical science behind black holes, to the story of going out on expeditions, all the people that worked on this, how the photo came about, and ended it off beautifully with what this all means for the world of science and astronomy, but also for humankind in general. and this might be specific for me, but i loved reading from a christian scientist. heino falcke never lessened the science of what they did, but rather he showed how it fits perfectly into our religion and what we believe. this book, other than being such interesting astronomy to read about, is also definitely inspiration for me on how to live with christ while pursuing this career i've always dreamed about. how to actually build up my relationship with him through what i study, and what the universe tells us about our wonderful creator.
regardless of whether you're a christian or not, whether you're an astronomer or not, this is a beautiful book, and if you have any interest in black holes and the first photo ever taken of one, i highly recommend.
that's probably what it all comes down to, in faith and in science: maintaining hope that you'll be permitted to discover something new.
the here is the space with which i can communicate. and then there is the beyond, the space that lies fundamentally beyond my ability to know it. i learn nothing of it; it stares at me in silence.
death shakes us to our core. the trembling before the finality of an ending is one of our most fundamental, one of our most ancient emotions.
science is not an absolute method for explaining everything in and beyond the world, but rather a celebration of human creativity and curiosity.
June 6, 2021
I'm going to start this by laying my biases out on the table here: the last chapter of this book is basically a treatise on the intersection between science and God. It took me a little while to decide what to think about that. I'm not the sort of person who has any problem with anyone espousing their religious beliefs as long as they are not proselytizing to the unwilling or using religion to make claims about science (including the science of life; i.e. being a giant bigot).
And you know what? Falcke really pulls this off. The references to his own beliefs earlier in the book honestly give the book flavor and character, and the chapter at the end is his thoughts on how he balances his beliefs in the face of the kind of science that he does. And I found myself really enjoying it. I appreciate not just his honesty and candor but also the fact that he lays out his thought process as succinctly as he does, and I appreciate the tone he takes when doing it. He is not preaching or invoking, he is merely telling, and that, along with the beauty of the language he uses to do it, is interesting and refreshing.
I've focused heavily on the very end of this book because it did color the rest of the text for me, so let me backtrack a little. The whole of this book is fascinating: hearing about the collaborative process it took to get the pictures of black hole at the center of M87 - an image which, when I first saw it, brought me to tears - was a story I've wanted to hear for a long time. I knew it was a long, difficult process, but I had no idea of the international lengths that had had to be gone to to pull off this incredible feat. Parts of this book almost read like an action movie, given the short time span that the astronomers and physicists had to use the telescopes they had access to, hoping - praying - that the weather would be just right. And the payoff is, of course, incredible. Stellar, even. And Falcke is exactly the right person to tell it.
Thoroughly enjoyable, engaging, and thought-provoking, told with a beauty and personal touch that is rare in many popular science books.
And you know what? Falcke really pulls this off. The references to his own beliefs earlier in the book honestly give the book flavor and character, and the chapter at the end is his thoughts on how he balances his beliefs in the face of the kind of science that he does. And I found myself really enjoying it. I appreciate not just his honesty and candor but also the fact that he lays out his thought process as succinctly as he does, and I appreciate the tone he takes when doing it. He is not preaching or invoking, he is merely telling, and that, along with the beauty of the language he uses to do it, is interesting and refreshing.
I've focused heavily on the very end of this book because it did color the rest of the text for me, so let me backtrack a little. The whole of this book is fascinating: hearing about the collaborative process it took to get the pictures of black hole at the center of M87 - an image which, when I first saw it, brought me to tears - was a story I've wanted to hear for a long time. I knew it was a long, difficult process, but I had no idea of the international lengths that had had to be gone to to pull off this incredible feat. Parts of this book almost read like an action movie, given the short time span that the astronomers and physicists had to use the telescopes they had access to, hoping - praying - that the weather would be just right. And the payoff is, of course, incredible. Stellar, even. And Falcke is exactly the right person to tell it.
Thoroughly enjoyable, engaging, and thought-provoking, told with a beauty and personal touch that is rare in many popular science books.
August 23, 2021
An interesting book about the attempt by an international group of scientists to fulfil an audacious goal. To the take first ever image of a supermassive black hole. Written by one of the principal scientists behind the endeavour, you'll get a history of astronomy as related to black holes, the planning and executing of the attempt to image a black hole (including his personal involvement) and his thoughts on the future of astronomy and his opinions on the intersection of science and religion.
The first part gives a condensed history of astronomy from ancient times (the heliocentric universe) to the modern one (as seen under Einstein's General Theory of Relativity). The formation of stars and how some of them die to produce black holes is the covered.
The second part looks at the author's (and others) theoretical research into black holes, and it dawns on him that it just may be possible to get an image of the close environment around the supermassive black holes that sit that the centre of most galaxies. Now to put theory in practice: various negotiations and presentations to get funding, equipment and radio telescope time are put together, and the international collaboration called the Event Horizon Telescope is finally ready to attempt to capture the image.
The next part now goes into the details of the actual observations made by the authors and others all over the world. The stress and strains of coordinating multiple simultaneous capturing of data are shown and in the end, the data is captured. But now comes the hard part of extracting the image from the data. Finally, the image is revealed to a waiting world, and the image proves to be a massive public hit.
The last part is more of the author's speculations and thoughts on what the future holds, as well as his thoughts and opinions on the intersection of science and religion.
The first part gives a condensed history of astronomy from ancient times (the heliocentric universe) to the modern one (as seen under Einstein's General Theory of Relativity). The formation of stars and how some of them die to produce black holes is the covered.
The second part looks at the author's (and others) theoretical research into black holes, and it dawns on him that it just may be possible to get an image of the close environment around the supermassive black holes that sit that the centre of most galaxies. Now to put theory in practice: various negotiations and presentations to get funding, equipment and radio telescope time are put together, and the international collaboration called the Event Horizon Telescope is finally ready to attempt to capture the image.
The next part now goes into the details of the actual observations made by the authors and others all over the world. The stress and strains of coordinating multiple simultaneous capturing of data are shown and in the end, the data is captured. But now comes the hard part of extracting the image from the data. Finally, the image is revealed to a waiting world, and the image proves to be a massive public hit.
The last part is more of the author's speculations and thoughts on what the future holds, as well as his thoughts and opinions on the intersection of science and religion.
December 16, 2025
Light in the Darkness by Heino Falcke is about astronomers' collective journey to explore the cosmos. It has four parts in it, which each go into detail in four different categories. The first category is mostly about how astronomers evolved the model of our universe. Part two describes celestial objects with strange properties, like neutron stars and black holes, and how they form. The third part talks about the modern day astronomers’ journey to taking a picture of a black hole. The fourth part dives into the questions that humans still have not answered about physics. This book was very interesting to me, especially because I liked space a lot when I was younger. It was cool to learn some of Falcke’s backstory about how he was fascinated by scientific discoveries, but I especially enjoyed reading about supernovae, black holes, and neutron stars forming. I liked this book and I think it deserves five stars, but I think this book is for nerds like me.
Something from Light in the Darkness that Heino Falcke made super interesting to me was the Schwarzschild Radius. It is the radius that a certain mass in the shape of a sphere would have to be to cause the escape velocity of the gravitational pull of said object to be as fast as the speed of light. To put it in simpler terms, the Schwarzschild Radius is the absolute smallest a group of mass can be before it turns into a black hole. I thought it was super interesting to learn that anything can have an event horizon, it would just have to be condensed a lot. This also explained why an event horizon is a one-way boundary.
Something from Light in the Darkness that Heino Falcke made super interesting to me was the Schwarzschild Radius. It is the radius that a certain mass in the shape of a sphere would have to be to cause the escape velocity of the gravitational pull of said object to be as fast as the speed of light. To put it in simpler terms, the Schwarzschild Radius is the absolute smallest a group of mass can be before it turns into a black hole. I thought it was super interesting to learn that anything can have an event horizon, it would just have to be condensed a lot. This also explained why an event horizon is a one-way boundary.
December 23, 2021
Sinänsä minulle on se ja sama mihin ihmiset uskovat niin kauan kuin siitä ei tehdä erityistä numeroa tai aleta tuputtaa omaa vakaumusta muille. Samoin olen vähän sitä mieltä että uskonto pitäisi pitää erillään niin tieteestä kuin politiikastakin.
Niin että kirja mustista aukoista ja niiden kuvaamisesta, kohtalaisen kiinnostavaa ettenkö sanoisi! No, ovelasti tässä oli käytetty perinteistä hihhulitaktiikkaa, eli jätetty kohtalaisen merkittävä asia kertomatta takakannen osalta ja sisäkanteen en tullut katsoneeksi - siinä äijä esiteltiin hartaana kristittynä.
Niin että kun ensimmäinen launaus raamatusta tuli vastaan sivulla 18 olin ihan kohtalaisen kyrpiintynyt. No, päätin kuitenkin antaa kirjalle mahdollisuuden ja LUOJAN KIITOS uskonnolle ei annettu ihan järjettömän suurta osaa... pois lukien sitten taas kirjan loppuosa, jossa se osansa todellakin saa kun se ulotetaan selittämään asioita joita tiede ei kykene ainakaan vielä selittämään.
Pakko todeta myös että kun äijän kykyä "kertoa pitkälle erikoistuneesta tieteenalasta on verraton" ylistetään kirjan takakannen sisäpuolella, niin joo, se tavallaan pätee puhuttaessa mustista aukoista. Vaan sitten kun siirrytään ensimmäisen sellaisen kuvaamisessa käytettyyn tekniikkaan niin... kohtalaisen tylsäksi menee.
Eli kunhan vähentää takakannen kusetuksen, uskonnon, tekniikasta kertovan osan osittain ja lopun "sekoitetaan usko tieteeseen" hölmöyden, niin kirja on ihan ok.
Niin että kirja mustista aukoista ja niiden kuvaamisesta, kohtalaisen kiinnostavaa ettenkö sanoisi! No, ovelasti tässä oli käytetty perinteistä hihhulitaktiikkaa, eli jätetty kohtalaisen merkittävä asia kertomatta takakannen osalta ja sisäkanteen en tullut katsoneeksi - siinä äijä esiteltiin hartaana kristittynä.
Niin että kun ensimmäinen launaus raamatusta tuli vastaan sivulla 18 olin ihan kohtalaisen kyrpiintynyt. No, päätin kuitenkin antaa kirjalle mahdollisuuden ja LUOJAN KIITOS uskonnolle ei annettu ihan järjettömän suurta osaa... pois lukien sitten taas kirjan loppuosa, jossa se osansa todellakin saa kun se ulotetaan selittämään asioita joita tiede ei kykene ainakaan vielä selittämään.
Pakko todeta myös että kun äijän kykyä "kertoa pitkälle erikoistuneesta tieteenalasta on verraton" ylistetään kirjan takakannen sisäpuolella, niin joo, se tavallaan pätee puhuttaessa mustista aukoista. Vaan sitten kun siirrytään ensimmäisen sellaisen kuvaamisessa käytettyyn tekniikkaan niin... kohtalaisen tylsäksi menee.
Eli kunhan vähentää takakannen kusetuksen, uskonnon, tekniikasta kertovan osan osittain ja lopun "sekoitetaan usko tieteeseen" hölmöyden, niin kirja on ihan ok.
January 5, 2022
This book is about the international effort to actually capture an image of a supermassive black hole in M87. The book is part autobiography, part story, part science explanation, and part testimony. Much of the book is fascinating in terms of the grandeur of the universe, but at times the mundane seems to outweigh it.
What drew me to read this book is that I was listening to an interview of Falcke where he talked about his faith in Jesus. I had no idea at the time that one of the leading scientists in the world in terms of astrophysics was also a Christian. In reading the book I don't doubt Falcke's faith, I simply wonder at the amount of times he uses the words coincidence and luck in terms of the universe and his own life. Maybe it is the interpreters guess (as the book wasn't originally printed in English), but I don't think so. With how everything came together for the images of the black hole I would see more the gracious hand of providence, not the capricious winds of luck.
The book is full of interesting tidbits (such as the big bang actually being a concept first purported by a priest that secular scientists mocked because it spoke of the creator, now many Christians fight against the big bang and secular scientists defend it). All in all I find the science fascinating, but his theology not as much.
What drew me to read this book is that I was listening to an interview of Falcke where he talked about his faith in Jesus. I had no idea at the time that one of the leading scientists in the world in terms of astrophysics was also a Christian. In reading the book I don't doubt Falcke's faith, I simply wonder at the amount of times he uses the words coincidence and luck in terms of the universe and his own life. Maybe it is the interpreters guess (as the book wasn't originally printed in English), but I don't think so. With how everything came together for the images of the black hole I would see more the gracious hand of providence, not the capricious winds of luck.
The book is full of interesting tidbits (such as the big bang actually being a concept first purported by a priest that secular scientists mocked because it spoke of the creator, now many Christians fight against the big bang and secular scientists defend it). All in all I find the science fascinating, but his theology not as much.
August 14, 2023
This book starts out being so well explained and so revealing about the first images captured of a black hole. I really appreciated the explanations about all the hundreds of years of build up that went into it. From one scientist leap to another, across cultural lines and imaginations. The author’s reverence to share this achievement made it a joyous read in this section of the book. Kudos for that achievement.
However, in the second part of the book it got bogged down by details about religion, philosophy and financial institutions. While revelations of this magnitude illicit so many reactions, it wasn’t as interesting as the beginning of the book. If that has been kept to a minimum it would haven’t made the book so disjointed. It really felt like it was split into two books. A book about the discovery and the history that made it possible. And a second book debating religious beliefs and scientific fundraising.
I highly recommend the first part of the book. I’m glad I read that part. A lot of the reviews say the second part left a bad taste in their mouth and I have to agree.
However, in the second part of the book it got bogged down by details about religion, philosophy and financial institutions. While revelations of this magnitude illicit so many reactions, it wasn’t as interesting as the beginning of the book. If that has been kept to a minimum it would haven’t made the book so disjointed. It really felt like it was split into two books. A book about the discovery and the history that made it possible. And a second book debating religious beliefs and scientific fundraising.
I highly recommend the first part of the book. I’m glad I read that part. A lot of the reviews say the second part left a bad taste in their mouth and I have to agree.
November 8, 2025
El libro se puede dividir en tres partes. La primera es una introducción sencilla a la astronomia y la historia de la misma. La segunda es la historia del desarrollo del proyecto de como se hizo tomo la imagen del agujero negro. Y la tercera es una reflexión sobre el alcance de la razón y conocimiento humano ante lo desconocido.
Diría que la primera parte es la mejor del libro, la segunda muy técnica y compleja de entender, y la tercera esperaba más, sobre todo viniendo de un radioastrónomo y que es también predicador laico, y como hace compatible la ciencia y fe.
Aún así aplaudo que haya libros y científicos así como Heino Falcke que no temen hablar de fé y Dios. Un tema que en la academia científica es tabú en los últimos trescientos años, que hacen parecer que para ser científico o hacer ciencia hay que ser necesariamente ateo, cuando realmente los más grandes genios de la ciencia eran creyentes y prácticantes.
Prefiero un libro y un científico como Heino Falcke que a los Dawkins, Hawking, deGrasse Tyson, Sagan que son o eran más celebridades y que rayan en lo patológico cuando hablan de Dios y la religión.
Diría que la primera parte es la mejor del libro, la segunda muy técnica y compleja de entender, y la tercera esperaba más, sobre todo viniendo de un radioastrónomo y que es también predicador laico, y como hace compatible la ciencia y fe.
Aún así aplaudo que haya libros y científicos así como Heino Falcke que no temen hablar de fé y Dios. Un tema que en la academia científica es tabú en los últimos trescientos años, que hacen parecer que para ser científico o hacer ciencia hay que ser necesariamente ateo, cuando realmente los más grandes genios de la ciencia eran creyentes y prácticantes.
Prefiero un libro y un científico como Heino Falcke que a los Dawkins, Hawking, deGrasse Tyson, Sagan que son o eran más celebridades y que rayan en lo patológico cuando hablan de Dios y la religión.
May 21, 2021
The book is broken out into two parts. The first, a summary about where we've come from with out understanding of the universe, think A brief history of time. The second is about the author's journey into trying to capture a photo of a black hole.
The good: I found the first part really interesting and the author was excellent in explaining complex theoretical concepts.
The bad: I thought the second half was not quite as interesting. Although I did appreciate the author's first hand knowledge on his teams work through capturing a black hole I did feel a bit disappointed.
I would recommend to those that are interested in understanding black holes. I really liked the author's personal take on the metaphysical realities of reality itself.
The good: I found the first part really interesting and the author was excellent in explaining complex theoretical concepts.
The bad: I thought the second half was not quite as interesting. Although I did appreciate the author's first hand knowledge on his teams work through capturing a black hole I did feel a bit disappointed.
I would recommend to those that are interested in understanding black holes. I really liked the author's personal take on the metaphysical realities of reality itself.
June 10, 2021
Interesante relato de como fue el proceso para la historica hazaña de obtener una imagen de la sombra de un agujero negro, contado por quién dirigió el proyecto del Event Horizon Telescope. En este libro el autor proyecta mucho de sus experiencias familiares que incluso le inspiraron a elegir la paleta de colores para la imágen, lo cuel hace que se sienta más personal. También deja ver su vida algo de su vida religiosa si que se sienta intrusivo
no se si sea cosa de la traducción al español, no sentí que me atrapara como otros libros de divulgación, pero su valor es la narración de los hechos desde dentro del programa y la explicación de como funciona un radiotelescopio, la interferometria, y el proceso de datos para obtener la imagen de M87.
no se si sea cosa de la traducción al español, no sentí que me atrapara como otros libros de divulgación, pero su valor es la narración de los hechos desde dentro del programa y la explicación de como funciona un radiotelescopio, la interferometria, y el proceso de datos para obtener la imagen de M87.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews