In 1916 Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves: miniscule ripples in the fabric of space-time generated by enormously powerful events. If such vibrations could somehow be recorded, we might ‘observe’ the universe for the first time through sound: the hissing of the Big Bang, the whale-like tunes of collapsing stars, the low tones of merging galaxies, the drumbeat of two black holes collapsing into one. For decades, astrophysicists had searched for ways of making this detection.
Then, in 2016, a team of hundreds of scientists at work on a billion-dollar experiment made history. They announced the first ever detection of a gravitational wave, confirming Einstein’s prediction. This book is their story, and the story of the most sensitive scientific instrument ever made: the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO).
Based on complete access to LIGO and the scientists who created it, Black Hole Blues provides a first hand account of this remarkable achievement. If you’re interested in a portrait of cutting-edge science at its cleverest and most ambitious, this is the book for you. Allow Janna Levin (http://jannalevin.com/) to be your guide.
Enquire at your local library. Check if this new science book is in stock by consulting the online catalogue at https://www.sllclibrary.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/MSGTRN/OPAC/BSEARCH
256 pages in Vintage
First published 2016
ISBN 978-0099569589
Professor Janna Levin