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  • Published: 15 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529112443
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $22.99

Black Hole Survival Guide




A very short book for readers of Carlo Rovelli that explains the science of Black Holes by taking the reader on a journey inside one

What would happen if you fell into a Black Hole?

Black holes are found throughout the universe. They can be microscopic. They can be billions of times larger than our Sun. They are dark on the outside but not on the inside. Anything that enters them can never escape, and yet they contain nothing at all.

In Black Hole Survival Guide physicist and novelist Janna Levin takes you on a journey into a black hole, explaining what would happen to you and why. In the process you'll come to see how their mysteries contain answers to some of the most profound questions ever asked about the nature of our universe.

'Astrophysics at its sexiest...hugely enjoyable' Sunday Times

  • Published: 15 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529112443
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $22.99

About the author

Janna Levin

Janna Levin is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University and Director of Sciences at Pioneer Works, a centre for art and innovation in Brooklyn. She has contributed to the understanding of black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions and gravitational waves. She was the first scientist-in-residence at the Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing at Oxford University with an award from NESTA, and was a Guggenheim fellow. Her previous books are How the Universe Got Its Spots, a novel, A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, which won the PEN/Bingham prize, and Black Hole Blues, the first book to describe the detection of gravitational waves in 2016. She has also appeared at TED and contributes to numerous radio and television programmes.

Also by Janna Levin

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Praise for Black Hole Survival Guide

Gripping, heartbreaking, brilliant

Sunday Times (on Black Hole Blues)

Spectacular ... a near-perfect balance of science, storytelling and insight

New Statesman (on Black Hole Blues)

Astonishing ... a splendid book that I recommend to anyone with an interest in the power of human imagination

Wall Street Journal (on Black Hole Blues)

A superb storyteller

Financial Times

Just like its subject this book is a seemingly miraculous compression of a vast amount of material into an implausibly small space. It's packed with revelations ... hugely enjoyable

Sunday Times

Wonderful ... Janna Levin has a talent for explaining mind-boggling concepts ... the language is conversational and, in places, rather poetic ... Perhaps the book's greatest draw is the book's survival guide element ... This book will really get you thinking, scratching your head, and eventually understanding the nature of black holes

BBC Sky at Night Magazine