White Holes
By Carlo Rovelli (2023)
Synopsis:
A mesmerizing trip to the strange world of white holes from the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and The Order of Time
Let us journey, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli, into the heart of a black hole. We slip beyond its horizon and tumble down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we see geometry fold. Time and space pull and stretch. And finally, at the black hole’s core, space and time dissolve, and a white hole is born.
Rovelli has dedicated his career to uniting the time-warping ideas of general relativity and the perplexing uncertainties of quantum mechanics. In White Holes , he reveals the mind of a scientist at work. He traces the ongoing adventure of his own cutting-edge research, investigating whether all black holes could eventually turn into white holes, equally compact objects in which the arrow of time is reversed.
Rovelli writes just as compellingly about the work of a scientist as he does the marvels of the universe. He shares the fear, uncertainty, and frequent disappointment of exploring hypotheses and unknown worlds, and the delight of chasing new ideas to unexpected conclusions. Guiding us beyond the horizon, he invites us to experience the fever and the disquiet of science—and the strange and startling life of a white hole.
Heather says:
It was Steven Sacha’s, interview for Hard Talk on the BBC that sparked my interest in Carlo Rovelli and his book White Holes. The book seemed a contrast to the quantum physics of black holes and the author’s persona seemed intriguing. It was not what I was expecting for an expert in physics. Then the fact that Carlo had recently taken up residence at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada peeked my interest.
The book surprised me. First, it is only 141 pages long and includes diagrams, an index, and reference notes. Then, this scientific book is not only very readable but understandable for a non-scientific person. In fact, Rovelli states, “I have two readers in mind when I write. One knows nothing about physics: I try to communicate to him the charm of research. The other knows everything, and I try to offer her new perspectives on what she already knows. For both I aim at the core of the matter. I remove from my writing anything I can. I imagine that those who know nothing of physics would find details useless and burdensome. The experts, on the other hand know the details already; they are not interested in hearing them repeated. They want a novel perspective.”
Rovelli includes history and realistic examples to illustrate his premise of white holes. I was intrigued by the explanation that to learn something new, one can go and experience phenomena OR one can imagine the phenomena. For example, Galileo (who hypothesised the earth was round) did not actually travel around the world, nor did he view it from space.
Rovelli writes; Copernicus looks at the solar system as you would see it from the Sun. Kepler flies thanks to his mother’s magic and describes the solar system as seen from outside the Earth. Einstein wonders what he would see if he could ride a ray of light. We project ourselves into situation ever further from our everyday experience. We imagine looking at everything from a different perspective. We ask what we would see if we could go into a black hole.
This is an amazing little book and I found myself both in awe of humanity’s significance and humanity’s insignificance. Well worth the effort required to read it.
