This updated edition of the New York Times Notable Book recounts the long hunt for Einstein's predicted gravitational waves-and celebrates their discovery.
In February 2016, astronomers announced that they had verified the last remaining prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity-vibrations in space-time, called gravitational waves. Humanity can now tune in to a cosmic orchestra. We have heard the chirp of two black holes dancing toward a violent union. We will hear the cymbal crashes from exploding stars, the periodic drumbeats from swiftly rotating pulsars, and maybe even the echoes from the Big Bang itself.
More than a decade earlier, Marcia Bartusiak chronicled the gamble taken by astronomers who were determined to prove Einstein right. In their quest to detect gravitational waves, they built the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, the most accurate measuring devices ever created. In this updated edition, Bartusiak brings the story to a thrilling close with the triumphant discovery of gravitational waves made with the LIGO.
