A Brief History of Black Holes
And Why Nearly Everything You Know About Them Is Wrong
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A Brief History of Black Holes
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Narrated by:
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Dr. Becky Smethurst
About this listen
This audio edition is narrated with dazzling enthusiasm by the author, Dr Becky Smethurst.
Right now, you are orbiting a black hole.
The Earth orbits the Sun, and the Sun orbits the centre of the Milky Way: a supermassive black hole, the strangest and most misunderstood phenomenon in the galaxy.
In A Brief History of Black Holes, the award-winning University of Oxford researcher Dr Becky Smethurst charts five hundred years of scientific breakthroughs in astronomy and astrophysics. She takes us from the earliest observations of the universe and the collapse of massive stars, to the iconic first photographs of a black hole and her own published findings.
A cosmic tale of discovery, Becky explains why black holes aren’t really ‘black’, that you never ever want to be ‘spaghettified’, how black holes are more like sofa cushions than hoovers and why, beyond the event horizon, the future is a direction in space rather than in time. Told with humour and wisdom, this captivating book describes the secrets behind the most profound questions about our universe, all hidden inside black holes.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Dr Rebecca Smethurst (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International LimitedCritic Reviews
'A jaunt through space history . . . with charming wit and many pop-culture references' – BBC Sky At Night Magazine
What listeners say about A Brief History of Black Holes
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-09-2022
Dr Becky Smethurst is a GENIUS Science Communicator!
If you are an amateur star gazer or a astrophysics fan you MUST listen to A Brief History of Black Holes. Dr Becky will wrap your brain in the most understandable but awesomely brilliant concepts that will have you thinking “I really get it now!”💡
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-11-2023
Weird and wonderful
The narrator is so enthusiastic and knowledgeable it is impossible not to feel fascinated. She answers all the questions and mostly without too much jargon. She actually gives us a history of the study of black holes. I also love the fact that she references discoveries to the appropriate scientists and demonstrate what a labour of love astrophysics is.
A beautiful book for all of us astro nerds....
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 14-06-2023
Brilliant, engaging and accessible
I realised listening to this I knew a lot of physics theories but I never truly understood them, now I (mostly) do. And I keep telling people random things from this book, it was exciting to listen to and to learn, even 20 odd years after highschool physics.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Dale Wilkins
- 12-02-2024
Great book
Great book.
Loved that it was narrated by Dr Becky herself.
Huge fan of her enthusiasm and drive to further knowledge in her field both publically and academically
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Josh Ferguson
- 20-09-2022
Excellent
Great book good flow and heaps of good information. DR Becky keeps you entertained while giving you so much to take in. Highly recommended, looking forward to your next book. :)
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- Brett Coster
- 11-01-2023
Terrific book and reading
Great work, wonderfully done. Loved listening to this, will definitely do so again. Cheers.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Aussie Bloke
- 01-03-2024
Amazing!
This book is amazing, made better by the authors excitement and clarity in her reading (let's face it, she is telling us the story from her heart). I highly recommend this for anyone even remotely interested in Astrology! Solid and thorough but explained well and read beautifully.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Albert Sjoberg (PA)
- 05-09-2022
A wonderful introduction to black holes.
This is an interesting listen. It worked well while driving and only occasionally did I feel the need to go back and listen to a section again.
I have also purchased the Kindle version, as my son prefers reading to listening.
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- Matt Dillon
- 14-09-2022
Bringing astrophysics books into the present day
There are a lot of great books/audiobooks on astrophysics out there; specifically for introducing people with a low to mid-level understanding of basic physics and astronomy. This book is a great addition to that collection and will bring you right up to 2022.
Dr. Becky shows that she is up there with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and even Carl Segan in the top astrophysics authors for the public.
I listened to this immediately after Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and, whilst the books start with a similar beginning, they complement each other perfectly.
I have enjoyed the several times I've already listened to this and will enjoy it many more times, still.
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- Nathan Daly
- 17-09-2022
Amazing!
I can't wait to hear/read more from Dr Smethurst! If you like space, you'll love this book.
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