The Black Hole War
My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics
By Leonard Susskind
Published: July 7, 2008
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
ISBN: 9780316016407
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
"The Black Hole War was more than an argument between physicists. It was a war of ideas, or perhaps a war between fundamental principles. The principles of Quantum Mechanics and those of General Relativity always seemed to be fighting each other, and it was not sure that the two could coexist", writes Felix Bloch Professor of Physics at Standford University Leonard Susskind in his brilliant and seminal book The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics. The war began when physics legend Stephen Hawking appeared to prove that when the mysterious objects known as black holes disappear through evaporation, all information in the form of bits inside would disappear.
Leonard Susskind takes the reader on a cosmic journey to places as large as the Universe, and as small as the tiniest particles yet imagined. Along the way, the author describes the three decades long battle to save the most fundamental laws of physics. Stephen Hawking's assertion that information is destroyed, when a black hole disappears, violated the fundamental law of conservation of information that states that no information can be lost. It only changes its form. This seeming contradiction of the very foundation of physics started the author, and other superstars of physics, on a quest to save the laws of physics. The Black Hole War had begun, and in the end, it ignited a new scientific revolution.
Leonard Susskind (photo left) understood that black holes can eventually evaporate and disappear. He also recognized that much of the existing theory of black holes was incomplete. What was missing was the mathematical proof that black hole evaporation would not result in an information loss. The three decade long search for a solution called upon the powerful mathematics of string theory, advanced quantum mechanics, and the counter-intuitive concept of the holographic universe. Leonard Susskind describes how an array of the most brilliant minds in theoretical physics, employed these theories to prove and uphold the law of information conservation. The author describes the war of ideas and the intriguing people involved, in a fascinating manner that brings the theories to life.
Leonard Susskind makes clear that the Black Hole War was unlike the pseudo-scientific polemics, found in political debates over hot button issues, including Intelligent Design and Global Warming. Instead, the Black Hole War was a victory for the Scientific Method, open and honest peer review of ideas and discoveries, and added to the sum total of human knowledge. When Stephen Hawking presented his black hole paradox, that seemed to overturn all mathematical and empirical science, his purpose was not to win or lose. Instead, he inspired natural scientific curiosity in the theoretical physics community, to follow the evidence and mathematics wherever they might lead. The resulting in depth study of black holes, quantum mechanics, string theory, and the holographic universe, was pure science discovery in action.
For me, the power of the book is the intriguing storytelling element, as the author's involvement in a true scientific revolution takes place. Leonard Susskind presents very advanced scientific theories and laws in language that is understandable to the lay person. The narrative describes the important principles involved, and each of their roles in the War, while keeping the mathematical formulas to a minimum. At the same time, the author shares stories about the brilliant people involved and their share in solving the enormous mathematical and theoretical physics puzzle. Along the way, the reader learns cutting edge theoretical physics concepts including string theory and the holographic universe, as well as the nature of black holes.
I highly recommend the destined to become classic The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics by Leonard Susskind, to anyone seeking not only to learn the nature of black holes, but how a true scientific revolution can take place, that changes radically how scientists understand the universe.
Read the important book The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics by Leonard Susskind, and discover how the greatest minds in theoretical physics solved a mathematical puzzle that threatened to destroy the very foundation of science. In the end, fighting the Black Hole War saved the most basic laws of physics from extinction. The ensuing battles also revealed a new and more complete understanding of the how the universe works, on both the incomprehensibly gigantic, and the unimaginably small sub-atomic scales.
