Gravity's Fatal Attraction

Mitchell Begelman is Professor of Distinction in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and a fellow of JILA, at the University of Colorado–Boulder. He has won several awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, Sloan Research Fellowship, the American Astronomical Society Warner Prize, and the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award (with Martin Rees, for the first edition of Gravity's Fatal Attraction). He is also the author of Turn Right at Orion: Travels through the Cosmos. Martin Rees is the UK's Astronomer Royal, a fellow (and former Master) of Trinity College, and was President of the Royal Society from 2005 to 2010. He is a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy, the Japan Academy, and several other foreign academies. His awards include the Balzan Prize, the Bower Award, the Gruber Prize, the Crafoord Prize, and the Templeton Prize. In addition to his research publications, he has written extensively for a general readership. His ten other books include Before the Beginning, Just Six Numbers, Our Cosmic Habitat, and On the Future: Prospects for Humanity.

'Gravity's Fatal Attraction has masterfully enlightened two decades of my undergraduates with its spellbinding examination of the astrophysical roles of black holes in our cosmos – this updated edition, including the latest black-hole breakthroughs, will remain a peerless resource for years to come.' Niel Brandt, Pennsylvania State University

• Preface to the Third Edition; 1. Gravity Triumphant; 2. Stars and Their Fates; 3. Black Holes in Our Backyard; 4. Galaxies and Their Nuclei; 5. Quasars and Kin; 6. Jets; 7. Blasts from the Past; 8. Black Holes in Hibernation; 9. Cosmic Feedback; 10. Postcards from the Edge; 11. Gravitational Waves; 12. Through the Horizon; Appendix: Gravity and Cosmic Dimensions; Further Reading; Index.