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amurray914's review against another edition
5.0
This book had a profound impact on me when I first read it back in 1998, so much so that I feel it is worth reposting a review I wrote on Amazon.com around the time of reading. I was so happy to hear Professor Thorne was one of the recipients of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics.
Once a reader embarks on the journey of discovery through this book, it is hard to turn back. Thorne manages to keep one interested, with each topic and chapter logically following from the last. He uses numerous diagrams, photographs and simple language to enlighten the reader. For example his illustration of how stars of various mass 'die' gives a masterful introductory explanation into white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes in one diagram!
This book not only describes complex cosmological phenomena, but gives concise accounts of the people involved and their political and social influences. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the mysteries of space and leaves the reader contented that he now has at least some comprehension of phenomena that everyone seems to have heard about (quasers, pulsars, neutron stars, black holes) but few understand.
Once a reader embarks on the journey of discovery through this book, it is hard to turn back. Thorne manages to keep one interested, with each topic and chapter logically following from the last. He uses numerous diagrams, photographs and simple language to enlighten the reader. For example his illustration of how stars of various mass 'die' gives a masterful introductory explanation into white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes in one diagram!
This book not only describes complex cosmological phenomena, but gives concise accounts of the people involved and their political and social influences. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the mysteries of space and leaves the reader contented that he now has at least some comprehension of phenomena that everyone seems to have heard about (quasers, pulsars, neutron stars, black holes) but few understand.
jbelang85's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.0
I really enjoyed this. What I can say is that if you are not a scientist or highly skilled amateur, you should not read this like a text book, where you are trying to understand everything. There's too much detail to do that. Instead let it wash over you and you will likely pick up more than you think. Part history, party biography, and (yes) part textbook, this book is like a building of our understanding (as of 1993) of black holes.
zwarren85's review
3.0
Detailed overview of stellar astrophysics and black hole formation, with colinear biographical storytelling.
Would have been better with a little less detail and much less biographical storytelling. Felt like a textbook at times.
Would have been better with a little less detail and much less biographical storytelling. Felt like a textbook at times.