Gravity’s Fatal Attraction. Black Holes in the Universe, Mitchell Begelman and Martin Rees (ISBN 978-1-108-81905-3, Cambridge University Press)

I just finished reading this book. I found a reference to it in another book I read recently. It is a really peculiar book, I have not read anything like it before. As the title suggests it deals with gravitation and how its unique characteristics lead to black holes. It has no equations in it and as such you could characterise it as another popular science book on gravity but that classification doesn’t fit the bill. Both authors are leading astrophysicists and one professor has been using the book for two decades in a course. I read the third edition which came out in 2021 but the first edition dates from 1995. The latest edition includes new discoveries, including the discovery of gravitational waves. Although the authors avoid math they bring both theoretical arguments and observational results to explain the current understanding and acceptance of the existence of black holes in the physics community. While the text lacks formulas and mathematical derivations, plots comparing observational data with theoretical predictions are included, together with many telescope images to explain and support the argumentation. As a result this is more a textbook than a popular science book. Because it lacks the math it is accessible to a broader audience, including all readers interested in astronomy and physics, regardless of their mathematical knowledge. Because it includes recent results and also clarifies where we are still lacking a lot of knowledge the book serves as a good introduction into the subject. It can be read on the couch but it is not casual night time reading. Certainly worth the time reading.