11/01/2018Bottled Lightning ) guides readers through space and time, from a 1979 total solar eclipse in Washington State to the more current-day MIT Haystack Observatory, from remote telescopes around the world to the center of the Milky Way and back again. The common thread weaving years and places is astronomer Shep Doeleman, whose quest to see the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, the super massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, has spanned continents and decades of groundbreaking work. Through complex collaborations and the roller coaster of scientific funding, Doeleman pulled together scientists all over the world to build an Earth-sized radio telescope, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). Fletcher's telling of the quest to gain access to and manage the telescopes making up the EHT has readers sharing in the anxiety of harsh weather events and equipment malfunctions but also in the jubilation of hard-won data. Fletcher manages to humanize a complicated scientific project while providing readers with a comprehensive guide to the cosmos. VERDICT Recommended for all readers interested in astronomy, general science, the nature of scientific collaboration, or humanity's search to understand the universe.{amp}mdash;Melissa Engleman, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin
This is all explained expertly and clearly by Fletcher…who carries the reader along on a journey of scientific triumphs and bureaucratic nightmares, of abstruse physics and interpersonal politics, all the while conveying the visceral joy of research. His occasional missteps…are more than made up for by the strength of his writing. He has a knack for deft, accurate explanations that are quick to read and easy to understand, with memorably vivid language. His excellent prose and a powerful story fuel this shining quasar of a book.
The New York Times Book Review - Adam Becker
08/13/2018
[Fletcher] has knack for deft, accurate explanations that are quick to read and easy to understand, with memorably vivid language. His excellent prose and a powerful story fuel this shining quasar of a book.” — New York Times Book Review
“A compelling behind-the-scenes story of scientists struggling as much with funding and competition as with the challenges of seeing Sagittarius A*. . . . Address[es] the seeming absurdities of [the] subject with authority and wit.” — Nature
“Ambitious and richly detailed . . . a refreshingly fast-paced account of this extraordinary scientific enterprise.” — Science
“In the paradoxical nihilism of black holes, we might discover the biggest, grandest truths about the universe.” — Wired
“With stakes this high and writing this lucid, readers will be drawn into the narrative as easily as matter being drawn toward the event horizon itself... This is scientific storytelling at its best.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Engaging . . . captivating and informative.” — Booklist
“Fletcher manages to humanize a complicated scientific project while providing readers with a comprehensive guide to the cosmos.” — Library Journal
“A thoughtful and riveting ethnography of an ambitious project to map the sacred boundary of our local black hole, at the heart of the Milky Way, drawing attention to the psychological drives that inspire us scientists to quest for the exciting discoveries that await...” — Priyamvada Natarajan, Astrophysicist, Yale University, author of Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos
“Mind-bending and suspenseful, Einstein’s Shadow tells a story about the immense black holes that pierce galaxies, and the humans trying to take their picture. Fletcher is there with them every step of the way, capturing the thrill of a wild and beautiful quest.” — Jason Fagone, author of The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies
“Fletcher has crafted an extraordinary narrative, explaining the most mind-bending physics with impressive clarity and vividly bringing to life a mostly unsung band of characters who are turning the crazy-sounding idea of taking a picture of a black hole into a reality.” — Michael D. Lemonick, author of The Perpetual Now and Mirror Earth
[Fletcher] has knack for deft, accurate explanations that are quick to read and easy to understand, with memorably vivid language. His excellent prose and a powerful story fuel this shining quasar of a book.
New York Times Book Review
A compelling behind-the-scenes story of scientists struggling as much with funding and competition as with the challenges of seeing Sagittarius A*. . . . Address[es] the seeming absurdities of [the] subject with authority and wit.
Engaging . . . captivating and informative.
In the paradoxical nihilism of black holes, we might discover the biggest, grandest truths about the universe.
Ambitious and richly detailed . . . a refreshingly fast-paced account of this extraordinary scientific enterprise.
Fletcher has crafted an extraordinary narrative, explaining the most mind-bending physics with impressive clarity and vividly bringing to life a mostly unsung band of characters who are turning the crazy-sounding idea of taking a picture of a black hole into a reality.
Mind-bending and suspenseful, Einstein’s Shadow tells a story about the immense black holes that pierce galaxies, and the humans trying to take their picture. Fletcher is there with them every step of the way, capturing the thrill of a wild and beautiful quest.
A thoughtful and riveting ethnography of an ambitious project to map the sacred boundary of our local black hole, at the heart of the Milky Way, drawing attention to the psychological drives that inspire us scientists to quest for the exciting discoveries that await...
A compelling behind-the-scenes story of scientists struggling as much with funding and competition as with the challenges of seeing Sagittarius A*. . . . Address[es] the seeming absurdities of [the] subject with authority and wit.
Engaging . . . captivating and informative.
In the paradoxical nihilism of black holes, we might discover the biggest, grandest truths about the universe.
Ambitious and richly detailed . . . a refreshingly fast-paced account of this extraordinary scientific enterprise.
★ 2018-08-13
A veteran science journalist builds a fascinating narrative based on his exclusive access to a group of astronomers bent on photographing a black hole, a near-impossible feat of Nobel Prize proportions.
For more than five years, Scientific American features editor Fletcher (Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars, and the New Lithium Economy , 2011, etc.) followed astronomer Shep Doeleman and his team of intrepid scientists as they assembled the largest array of radio telescopes in the world, the Event Horizon Telescope, in the hope of imaging a black hole. The author excels at bringing to life not just the researchers and experimentalists, whose quirks and passions add much to the story, but the cutting-edge science driving their epic quest. Despite their ubiquity in popular culture, black holes have never been directly observed. A mountain of theoretical evidence posits that they exist in abundance in the universe. Most intriguing is that scientists are almost positive that a supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A* lies in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Getting a picture of Sagittarius A* is Doeleman's white whale. Not only would it be the first direct evidence of a black hole; it also may reveal long-sought-after secrets of the universe—maybe even hint at a so-called "Theory of Everything." With stakes this high and writing this lucid, readers will be drawn into the narrative as easily as matter being drawn toward the event horizon itself. The hypotheses, experiments, team-building, and bureaucratic wrangling that Fletcher so beautifully describes perfectly encapsulate modern science, and it's a rare treat to have an insider's look at an ongoing endeavor this monumental. The author also includes a helpful guide to acronyms and abbreviations and a cast of characters.
Supermassive black holes, a virtual telescope the size of the Earth, trailblazing astronomers who test the boundaries of modern science—this is scientific storytelling at its best.
