Gravity's Engines

Gravity's Engines

The Other Side of Black Holes

Summary

We have long understood black holes to be where the universe as we know it comes to an end - huge bodies so destructive that not even light can escape their deadly power. In Gravity's Engines, however, renowned astrophysicist Caleb Scharf reveals an entirely new, and crucially important, side to these mysterious chasms.

The latest research has located super-sized black holes, often billions of times more massive than the Sun, which have the power to rearrange the cosmos and control entire galaxies of stars. Engaging with our deepest questions about our origins, Scharf shows how, without these black holes, life in the universe could not exist.

Reviews

  • This is a book that is rich in the poetry of scientific language. ... Not only does [Scharf] know more about the universe than you or I do, he knows how to transmit his knowledge by deft use of analogy.
    Guardian (Paperback of the Week), Nicholas Lezard

About the author

Caleb Scharf

Caleb Scharf is the director of Columbia University's Astrobiology Center. He has written for New Scientist, Science and Nature, and his Life, Unbounded blog was named one of the 'hottest science blogs' by The Guardian. He was born in England, and now lives in New York City.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more