num_pages: 400
description: In August 1930, on a boat trip from Bombay to England, the young Indian scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar calculated that certain stars could end their lives by collapsing indefinitely to a point -- to nowhere. This idea brought Chandra into conflict with Sir Arthur Eddington, the grand old man of British astrophysics, who publicly ridiculed the idea. EMPIRE OF THE STARS will tease out the major implications of this infamous event, setting it against the backdrop of the turbulent growth of astrophysics and providing a unique window on our unfolding view of the cosmos. In its clash of personalities, epochs and cultures, the story reveals the deep-seated psychological and philosophical prejudices at work in the acceptance and rejection of new scientific ideas.
language: English
title: Empire of the Stars : Friendship, Obsession and Betrayal in the Quest for Black Holes
titlecomplete: Empire of the Stars : Friendship, Obsession and Betrayal in the Quest for Black Holes
genres: Biography, Physics, Science, Nonfiction, History Of Science, Astronomy, History
ratings_count: 155
publisher: Little, Brown