The Black Hole War

My Battle to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics

By: Leonard Susskind

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

What happens when something is sucked into a black hole? Does it disappear? Three decades ago, a young physicist named Stephen Hawking claimed that it did - and in doing so, put at risk everything we know about the fundamental laws of the universe. Leonard Susskind and Gerard 't Hooft realized the threat and responded with a counterattack that changed the course of physics.

The Black Hole War is the thrilling story of their united effort to reconcile Hawking's theories of black holes with their own sense of reality, an effort that would eventually result in Hawking admitting he was wrong and Susskind and 't Hooft realizing that our world is a hologram projected from the outer boundaries of space.

A brilliant book about the deepest mysteries of modern physics, The Black Hole War is mind-bending and exhilarating listening.

©2008 Leonard Susskind (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

The universal battle royale

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely, this book is excellent. It does an incredible job telling the story of science, professional relationships, the capacity of the human mind to understand, and foreshadows important areas of study in the upcoming century.

What did you like best about this story?

The human relationships involved within scientific discovery were fascinating.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, there were discussions that required a bit of reflection before I could continue.

Any additional comments?

This is one of the best books I have ever read/heard. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in science and human achievement.

Great story, great narration

I found this audiobook to be very entertaining, packed with so much information that I'll have to listen to it several times. The narrator was so well prepared that he sounded like he might have been the author. If you love science, you've got to love this book, because Susskind interweaves the work of scientists old and new. If you're religious, you might feel offended by Susskind's up-front atheism, but I found it refreshing.

Enjoyed the discussion of the scientists

The author mixes the physics with a discussion of the scientists involved and their personalities. I found the physics interesting but baffling.

perfect

I will listen to it many times. enjoyed every word. very thought-provoking. Susskind is not driven by politics.

A "Right Stuff" for scientist.

Absolutely spellbinding. The science is great, but the characters are absolutely mesmerizing. In this story, we see the petty side of science and the heroic side, often in the same scientist. Sure, the story is a little dated, now, but even though science has moved on to the next war (or the next war after that) it's still awesome to get behind the scenes of what top of the pyramid scientist are up to. What Tom Wolfe's "Right Stuff" was for astronauts, this book is for physicists.

Great book

If you are serious about trying to understand some of the most complex and amazing concepts of quantum physics without having to learn all that pesky math the book is for you. I look forward to re-reading it.

An exceptional good book to read

I can't recommend this book enough for anyone even remotely interested in science. Susskind covers both in-depth hard science as well as all the simpler layers you need to understand. However I've re-read it 5 times now - in each reading, I get more out of it.

The narrator, Ray Panek, is simply the best audio book reader there out there.

A great read

This book presents in a clear and understandable way some history on the debate regarding Black Holes. I will be looking into more of Mr. Susskinds books.

Excellent astronomy drama and instruction

This is a great tale of astronomy and the search to defend the understanding of physics in light of new discovery. A worthy listen and fun. I highly recommend it.

Even the layman can follow this book.

I listened to this after reading Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time. Hawking's book was good but lost me at the end. What I liked about Susskind's book was that he gives a very good history of many aspects of physics and makes it all easy to follow and understand. He finally leads you to the conclusion that information entering a black hole is not lost, which is contrary to what Hawking thought. I like the theoretical, imagine if you will, examples that physicists use to figure things out. Pretty cool.