In Search of the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes

by John Gribbin

Time travel has been a common feature in popular science fiction, but with today's understanding of black holes, it could possibly be a reality. Many astrophysicists believe black holes can function as tunnels leading to other times and other places and that they contain the key to the Big Bang. In this enthralling book John Gribbin lucidly explains such theories and guides us through a still emerging cosmos of neutron and X ray stars, white dwarfs, quasars, and pulsars.

"Fascinating." --Hans Christian von Beyer, The New York Times Book Review

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Space, Popular Science

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

John R. Gribbin is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. His writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes science fiction.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up in a charity shop and read it cold - having never heard of John Gribbin before. First time I've ever come close to understanding black holes and the rest. After this I was able to tackle 'E=mc2 and why we should care' and make it to 2-thirds the way through before I got lost on the detail! Totally brilliant and I'm looking for more of his books.

Glad I read this again - this time got about three quarters the way through before I got lost. Enjoyed it just as much.

[Fiona Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and accessible read, though maybe a little outdated

[Maggie Lieu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gets quite technical towards the end but still a nice read with lots of interesting ideas

[Remo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maravilloso tocho de John Gribbin sobre los agujeros negros y la Relatividad General y cómo ésta se separa del sentido común en cuanto nos empezamos a acercar a aquéllos. Este libro, que leí durante mi año de Ingenieros antes de dar el salto a Físicas, fue uno de los que cimentó mi deseo de ser físico teórico.
El autor comienza con algo de historia para enseguida saltar al meollo del libro: los agujeros negrosy cómo la Relatividad General predice lo que le pasa al tiempo a medida que os acercamos a ellos. El autor no rehuye las explicaciones con cierta enjundia y así nos endiña radios de Schwarzschild, límites de Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff y agujeros negros de Kerr con cierta naturalidad.
De los agujeros negros saltamos a la Cosmología, el estudio del Universo como un todo, y a la posibilidad de construir máquinas del tiempo. Todo el libro es un viaje fantástico, lleno de referencias a otras obras y más cultura, lleno de sentido de la maravilla. Recuerdo con cariño este libro, y veo ahora además que su edición física está muy cuidada porque ha aguantado el paso de veinticinco años sin inmutarse, cosa que no se puede decir de gran parte de mi biblioteca. Una maravilla muy recomendable.

[Neil Aplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several pages in and fascinating, highly readable.

Such a easy read for such a difficult subject, and fascinating. I have been educated, again. Thanks Dad xx

[kuarkdelima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Membacanya sekitar tahun 1995. Satu buku yang bagus menerangkan konsep ruang-masa , wormhole, penrose diagram.

Yang paling best ( dan sebab utama saya beli), sebab ada 'guide' bagaimana membina mesin masa.

[Astrila · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Gribbin is one of my favorite authors :)

[Desmatron · Rating 4 out of 5]

interessante, ma complicato

[Andy Huber · Rating 5 out of 5]

read something like that

http://www.sein.de/geist/weisheit/201...

[Martin Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Learnt so much from this piece. John Gribbin presents complex notions in a simple and easy to understand manner. A lot of his work presented here is still very relevant today.

[Tue Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was alright. It was not the best book by John Gribbin, however, as this was of a more speculative nature than something based on concrete empirical evidence.