An extraordinary journey to the darkest corners of the universe with award-winning astrophysicist Heino Falcke. Exploring the modern night sky to the study of black holes, there are still so many unsolved questions and mysteries the Universe is inviting us to explore.

I'm going to start this by laying my biases out on the table here: the last chapter of this book is basically a treatise on the intersection between science and God. It took me a little while to decide what to think about that. I'm not the sort of person who has any problem with anyone espousing their religious beliefs as long as they are not proselytizing to the unwilling or using religion to make claims about science (including the science of life; i.e. being a giant bigot).

And you know what? Falcke really pulls this off. The references to his own beliefs earlier in the book honestly give the book flavor and character, and the chapter at the end is his thoughts on how he balances his beliefs in the face of the kind of science that he does. And I found myself really enjoying it. I appreciate not just his honesty and candor but also the fact that he lays out his thought process as succinctly as he does, and I appreciate the tone he takes when doing it. He is not preaching or invoking, he is merely <i>telling</i>, and that, along with the beauty of the language he uses to do it, is interesting and refreshing.

I've focused heavily on the very end of this book because it did color the rest of the text for me, so let me backtrack a little. The whole of this book is fascinating: hearing about the collaborative process it took to get the pictures of black hole at the center of M87 - an image which, when I first saw it, brought me to tears - was a story I've wanted to hear for a long time. I knew it was a long, difficult process, but I had no idea of the international lengths that had had to be gone to to pull off this incredible feat. Parts of this book almost read like an action movie, given the short time span that the astronomers and physicists had to use the telescopes they had access to, hoping - praying - that the weather would be just right. And the payoff is, of course, incredible. Stellar, even. And Falcke is exactly the right person to tell it.

Thoroughly enjoyable, engaging, and thought-provoking, told with a beauty and personal touch that is rare in many popular science books.

This a book written by Heino Falcke, the German astrophysicist who announced the Event Horizon Telescope's first image of a black hole. He discusses various astronomical bodies, the history of astronomy, and his own personal experiences and beliefs on his journey in the field.

Falcke starts off talking about the press conference in Brussels that took place when the first image of the supermassive black hole was shown to the public. He describes his feelings and emotional state when the culmination of his years of work was finally realized, and his relief as the wondrous image appeared on the screen.

The first few chapters of the book are structured a bit like a journey from Earth out into the cosmos. Falcke starts with describing a rocket launch from Earth, and then moves on to Earth orbit, flying through space, and then the Moon. In each of these stops, he discusses a few aspects of the physics of the environment, such as the properties of light, and adds other personal thoughts or historical information that is relevant to the location. In talking about the Moon, Falcke recalls being a small child fascinated with footage of the early Apollo missions shown on TV. Then on to the Sun, where Falcke reminisces about watching a solar eclipse with his daughter, and discusses the attributes of the star, and more of the history of astronomy. This pattern then continues as Falcke takes us through the Solar System.

The next few chapters are focused on Einstein's relativity, the scope of the Milky Way galaxy, and black holes. Falcke touches on quasars and the Big Bang, before moving on to Part Three, where he discusses his own life, and the path that eventually led him to work with the Event Horizon Telescope to help create the image of a black hole.

Part Four gets into speculation about unanswered and possibly unanswerable questions, and moves into the realm of metaphysics. Toward the end of the book Falcke focuses on religion, bringing some of his own personal religious beliefs into the picture. This is pretty uncommon among scientists in general, especially in a book about astrophysics, and some of the last chapter or so seemed very out of place compared to the rest of the book.

Overall this was an easy, interesting read. None of the science discussed is difficult to follow, as Falcke puts everything in common language that a layman could understand. Reading about the process involved in creating the black hole image was my favorite part, and if that is all you are interested in you could probably just read Part Three.

Falcke goes into depth about one of the most amazing discoveries of our lifetime by giving details of it and his own development over his life. It’s definitely worth a read if you enjoy reading books about discoveries and understanding the thought process of a truly great mind.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperOne for this ARC.

This is an interesting and well-written account of the theoretical and experimental physics that led to the first photo of what is probably a black hole. Unfortunately, at the end, it devolves into the author's personal concept of God. There's value in discussing how science and religion are compatible. I'm not sure I even disagree with anything the author has to say. The arguments just seemed off-topic in context. The first 80% of the book is definitely worth reading, though. It's a fascinating story.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

A fascinating account of the exciting, worldwide effort to "photograph" a black hole for the first time. Falcke details the technical and organizational challenges the team faced, provides readers with a primer (from the Big Bang to the possible heat death of the universe) of how we know what we know about black holes, and offers his personal philosophical and religious views on what it all means. [A podcast interview will be posted in May!]

Phenomenal Achievement, Well Written Story Of How It Happened. That may leave a bad aftertaste with its final section. 200 years ago, humanity didn't even know black holes existed - nor did actual photography quite exist yet. Now, not only do many of us carry around highly detailed cameras in our pockets, but humanity - led, in this effort, by this very author - has now taken a picture of a black hole. Falcke does a remarkable job through the first three (of four) sections of this tale setting the stage for that ultimate day in April 2019 when his team held half a dozen press conferences simultaneously all over the world announcing what they had done. He also spends a bit of time in the third section discussing the fallout of that day through about a year ish later, as the COVID pandemic changed the way most of the world worked... but didn't really change much for this already global team. The way Falcke builds the history of the achievements that led to his is nothing short of poetic, yet also very easy to follow along with for those of us *without* PhDs in advanced theoretical astrophysics, and is truly remarkable. Even when Falcke begins speaking of even more theoretical concepts such as Einstein-Rosenberg Bridges (aka "wormholes") and Hawking Radiation, he grounds these concepts in the work that has already been done. Even when speaking of the intermingling of religion and science sporadically through much of the text, Falcke is still remarkably grounded. But then, in the final chapter or two, he goes off into more "Your Mileage May Vary" territory when he begins speaking directly of God in light of what is shown via black holes. And that is where the potentially bad aftertaste comes in. Had Falcke made the worldwide announcement truly the climax of the book, with an epilogue of the team's post-2019 efforts, this could arguably have been a bit tighter and less potentially controversial. Still, a very well written tale about one of the most monumental human achievements of my own (mid 1980s-forward) lifetime, and thus very much recommended.