Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines

Download or read book Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines written by Jim Al-Khalili and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you know: What might happen if you fall into a black hole? That the Universe does not have an edge? That the reason it gets dark at night is proof of the Big Bang? That cosmic particles time-travel through the atmosphere defying death? That our past, present and future might all coexist "out there"? With two remarkable ideas, Albert Einstein revolutionized our view of the Universe. His first was that nothing can travel faster than light-the ultimate speed limit. This simple fact leads to the unavoidable conclusion that space and time must be linked together forever as Spacetime. With his second monumental insight, Einstein showed how Spacetime is warped and stretched by the gravity of all objects in the Universe and even punctured by black holes. But such possible twisting of Spacetime allowed a magic not even Einstein could have imagined: time-travel. Theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili finally lays science fiction to rest as he opens up Einstein's Universe. Leading us gently and light-heartedly through the dizzying world of our space and time, he even gives us the recipe for a time machine, capable of taking us Back to the Future, to Alice's Wonderland, or on a trip with the Terminator.