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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

Written by: Dr Becky Smethurst
Narrated by: Dr. Becky Smethurst
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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 Limited
Astronomy & Space Science Physics

Critic Reviews

'A jaunt through space history . . . with charming wit and many pop-culture references' – BBC Sky At Night Magazine

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Amazing Educational Book, loved it very much

I absolutely loved this book. It has the perfect balance of jokes and science, and I highly recommend it to anyone with even the slightest interest in astrophysics. Dr. Becky is an amazing author and narrator, listening to this audiobook felt like watching a 7hr video on her YouTube channel. I love her videos, she is a fantastic science communicator who can explain topics of such incredible depth in plain and simple language. The way she has incorporated science history into this book is amazing. It is so fun to hear the story behind discoveries which are nowadays thought to be 'obvious' information. I had a huge smile on my face while listening to this audiobook as I recalled some of the stuff that I already knew from high school while also being able to take in all the new information presented in this book. Hearing Lord Kelvin or Marie Curie's name in this audiobook is the equivalent of Cap wielding mjolnir in Endgame, it's something that you know is coming and when it finally happens you're simply overjoyed (or at least I was). Loads of love to Dr. Becky, keep making videos and writing books so that others can also appreciate the immeasurable beauty of our Universe. Best wishes for all of your future endeavours.

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