Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

What is a black hole? Could we survive a visit to one ... perhaps even venture inside? Have we yet discovered any real black holes? And what do black holes teach us about the mysteries of our Universe? These are just a few of the tantalizing questions examined in this tour-de-force, jargon-free review of one of the most fascinating topics in modern science. In search of the answers, we trace a star from its birth to its death throes, take a hypothetical journey to the border of a black hole and beyond, spend time with some of the world's leading theoretical physicists and astronomers, and take a whimsical look at some of the wild ideas black holes have inspired. Prisons of Light - Black Holes is comprehensive and detailed. Yet Kitty Ferguson's lightness of touch and down-to-earth analogies set this book apart from all others on black holes and make it a wonderfully stimulating and entertaining read.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgements (p. ix)
• Prologue (p. 1)
• 1 A cosmic case of burnout (p. 5)
• 2 Matters of gravity: Newton and Einstein (p. 19)
• 3 The capture of light (p. 35)
• 4 Tripping the theoretical fantastic (p. 47)
• 5 Crossing the bar (p. 67)
• 6 Contemplating an enormous nothing (p. 83)
• 7 Evidence in the case (p. 113)
• 8 Hearts of darkness (p. 137)
• 9 The search goes on (p. 159)
• 10 Passages into the labyrinth (p. 175)
• 11 Black hole legends and far out ideas (p. 187)
• Epilogue (p. 201)
• Further reading (p. 203)
• Index (p. 207)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

One can't mention black holes without mentioning Stephen Hawking and the rather baffling phenomenon of A Brief History of Time. Baffling because it's hard to believe that there were really that many trade book buyers who really understood it. If justice has not been eternally trapped within an event horizon, then those book buyers who were still bemused at the end of (or even the beginning of) A Brief History will buy this explanation by Ferguson, the British author of Stephen Hawking: Quest for a Theory of Everything. Even if you've forgotten gravity, relativity, thermodynamics, let alone quantum mechanics and Heisenberg's slippery uncertainty principle, you will understand several of the more difficult notions in astrophysics. Through astute use of definitions, stories, illustrations and verbal imagery, Ferguson describes how gravity might overwhelm the exclusion principal of certain larger stars to create a black hole; what a visit to a black hole might turn up (with all due respect to the improbability of ever returning from such a trip); how black holes hide and what traces give them away; as well as major candidates and how they have been smoked out. The reader willing to apply a modicum of concentration and curiosity will be amply rewarded not only with knowledge, but also with the humor, fantasy, poetry and awe Ferguson brings to the subject. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Ferguson, a science writer, has crafted a fine book for the general reader interested in black holes. Writing in an engaging style with subtle humor, she creates a fresh presentation of material in an interesting pattern, covering the main points of Newtonian and Einsteinian gravity as well as the evolution of the observational search for black holes. Nicely illustrated with diagrams and photographs of noted physicists, the book leads readers through a scientific detective story where the process of discovery is explained for the layperson. The annotated bibliography of general works will be of great use to readers wishing to continue their own exploration of this fascinating topic. Written for adults interested in science, this work is recommended for all public and university libraries. General readers; lower-division undergraduates. K. Larsen Central Connecticut State University