Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-223) and index.

It is therefore possible that the largest luminous bodies in the universe may be invisible -- Newton, forgive me -- One would then find oneself ... in a geometrical fairyland -- There should be a law of nature to prevent a star from behaving in this absurd way! -- I'll show those bastards -- Only its gravitational field persists -- I could not have picked a more exciting time in which to become a physicist -- It was the weirdest spectrum I'd ever seen -- Why don't you call it a black hole? -- Medieval torture rack -- Whereas Stephen Hawking has such a large investment in general relativity and black holes and desires an insurance policy -- Black holes ain't so black.

"For more than half a century, physicists and astronomers engaged in heated dispute over the possibility of black holes in the universe. The weirdly alien notion of a space-time abyss from which nothing escapes--not even light--seemed to confound all logic. This engrossing book tells the story of the fierce black hole debates and the contributions of Einstein and Hawking and other leading thinkers who completely altered our view of the universe. Renowned science writer Marcia Bartusiak shows how the black hole helped revive Einstein's greatest achievement, the general theory of relativity, after decades during which it had been pushed into the shadows. Not until astronomers discovered such surprising new phenomena as neutron stars and black holes did the once-sedate universe transform into an Einsteinian cosmos, filled with sources of titanic energy that can be understood only in the light of relativity. This book celebrates the hundredth anniversary of general relativity, uncovers how the black hole really got its name, and recounts the scientists' frustrating, exhilarating, and at times humorous battles over the acceptance of one of history's most dazzling ideas."--Jacket.

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