In A Brief History of Black Holes, award-winning University of Oxford researcher Dr Becky Smethurst charts five hundred years of scientific breakthroughs in astronomy and astrophysics.
'A jaunt through space history . . . with charming wit and many pop-culture references' – BBC Sky At Night Magazine
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 this cosmic tale of discovery, Dr Becky Smethurst 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.
She 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.
- Handmade and Homegrown
- New eBook additions
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Black History and Black Future
- Canada Reads 2025
- Celebrating #LMM150
- Witch, Please
- True North Strong and Well-Read
- Summer Reading List: Recent Canadian books to read this summer
- Hamilton Reads 2024: Pride Month
- Looks Sweet but Could Be Spicy
- Based on a True Story: Page to Screen Edition
- Always Available Fiction
- See all
- Canada Reads 2025
- True Crime: For When You Run Out of Podcasts
- Available now
- Lest We Forget
- Summer Reading List: Recent Canadian books to read this summer
- New audiobook additions
- Looks Sweet but Could Be Spicy
- Most popular
- Hamilton Reads 2024: Chrysalis
- Indigenous History and Voices
- Based on a True Story: Page to Screen Edition
- Entering Our Eclipse Era
- BookTok Made Us Do It
- See all