Introduction by Frederick Seitz
what this book is about, and how to read it
Prologue: A Voyage among the Holes
in which the reader, in a science fiction tale, encounters black holes and all their strange properties as best we understand them in the 1990s
1. The Relativity of Space and Time
in which Einstein destroys Newton’s conceptions of space and time as Absolute
2. The Warping of Space and Time
in which Hermann Minkowski unifies space and time, and Einstein warps them
3. Black Holes Discovered and Rejected
in which Einstein’s laws of warped spacetime predict black holes, and Einstein rejects the prediction
4. The Mystery of the White Dwarfs
in which Eddington and Chandrasekhar do battle over the deaths of massive stars; must they shrink when they die, creating black holes? or will quantum mechanics save them?
in which even the nuclear force, supposedly the strongest of all forces, cannot resist the crush of gravity
in which all the armaments of theoretical physics cannot ward off the conclusion: implosion produces black holes
in which black holes are found to spin and pulsate, store energy and release it, and have no hair
in which a method to search for black holes in the sky is proposed and pursued and succeeds (probably)
in which astronomers are forced to conclude, without any prior predictions, that black holes a millionfold heavier than the Sun inhabit the cores of galaxies (probably)
in which gravitational waves carry to Earth encoded symphonies of black holes colliding, and physicists devise instruments to monitor the waves and decipher their symphonies
in which spacetime is viewed as curved on Sundays and flat on Mondays, and horizons are made from vacuum on Sundays and charge on Mondays, but Sundays experiments and Monday’s experiments agree in all details
in which a black-hole horizon is clothed in an atmosphere of radiation and hot particles that slowly evaporate, and the hole shrinks and then explodes
in which physicists, wrestling with Einstein s equation, seek the secret of what is inside a black hole: a route into another universe? a singularity with infinite tidal gravity? the end of space and time, and birth of quantum foam?
14. Wormholes and Time Machines
in which the author seeks insight into physical laws by asking: can highly advanced civilizations build wormholes through hyperspace for rapid interstellar travel and machines for traveling backward in time?
an overview of Einstein’s legacy, past and future, and an update on several central characters
my debts of gratitude to friends and colleagues who influenced this book
a list of characters who appear significantly at several different places in the book
a chronology of events, insights, and discoveries
definitions of exotic terms
what makes me confident of what I say?