Two Words, One Answer.
black hole
 Black Hole $18.95 Combining the best elements of sci-fi, horror, and those cheesy movies designed to scare teens in the '70s, Black Hole is wonderfully funny and subversive while also being genuinely thrilling and disturbing. In 1970s Seattle, a group of teens battles against sexual desires that threaten to leave them monstrously deformed. A new sexually transmitted disease has come alive, and there's no cure. The strange effects of the disease--different for everyone who catches it--mirror the pain and isolation of high school. Black Hole is tragicomic in the best sense of the word: It takes itself seriously, and so do its readers. How could you not? When one chance encounter with the wrong person could lead to a lifetime of horror, you can't help but be just a little bit nervous. -- John Hogan  Exploring Black Holes: Introduction to General Relativity $70.00 A book I really wouldn't have thought could have been written. There are a lot of books on general relativity at the superficial level, call these books 'mathless.' There are monumental tomes aimed at the graduate student level, call these books 'tensor calculus.' Here is a book exquisitely positioned between these others. The student will need to have had differential calculus, and perhaps a bit of basic physics, and with these he will get a pretty good, introductory understanding of General Relativity. The real key to this book is that it explains a lot, but then it open up a bunch of other questions, questions that we really haven't answered yet -- things like dark matter, dark energy, accelerating expansion of the universe, and more. The book ends with: 'How can physics live up to its true greatness except by a new revolution in outlook which dwarfs all past revolutions? And when it comes, will we not say to each other, Oh, how beautiful and simple it all is! How could we ever have missed it so long.' That's just the awe, the vision, that we want new and budding physicists to have.  The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics $15.99 This is a fantastic book for physics groupies. It's a very fast and (believe it or not) easy read. Complex concepts are laid out in simple analogies for the layman. Susskind explains most all current quantum physics concepts including string theory, holographic principle, multiple dimensions, conservation of data, and (of course) the black hole paradox. I also liked his side note about science being the study of the observable, therefore ideas about black holes leading to alternative universes, heaven, or hell cannot be considered valid hypothesis. Much kudos to Susskind's editors! I've seen some of his lectures, and even the most elementary concept discussions he has a tendency to skip steps in explanations because they seem obvious to physicists. His editors held his feet to the ground and forced him to flesh out those elementary steps for the reader. On occasion, though, this doesn't happen. So expect a few concepts to have the "miracle happens here" step. Susskind refers to Steven Hawking a lot in this book. I mean an exorbitant amount. Too much if you ask me. He clearly respects, admires, and challenges Hawking. We get it. No need to go overboard. One other thing to remember while reading: the analogies drawn to help readers visualize concepts are, for the most part, one dimensional. What I mean is when the author describes something like `energy at the event horizon' as `resembling a TV set tuned to static', the analogy does not go any further than that. It doesn't mean energy shoots out from behind the surface, or it's a flat surface, or you can change the channel to I Love Lucy. It just resembles a static picture. Keep the context literal to understand the point clearly and don't `test' the analogies. Buy this book it will blow your mind, educate you, and entertain you. This book epitomizes the phrase "Truth is stranger than fiction." |
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