November 2005    

Empire of the Stars: Obsession, Friendship, and Betrayal in the Quest for Black Holes Author: Miller, Arthur I. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin $26.00 Cloth (364 p.) ISBN: 061834151X B&T         YBP Reviewed by David White, Customer Service Bibliographer Using a biography of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar - or Chandra - as a vehicle, Miller covers in great detail the history of debate about white dwarfs and black holes. While focusing primarily on Chandra, Miller includes information about Sir Arthur Eddington - the preeminent British astrophysicist of the early 20th century--as well as short bios of every major (and many minor) physicists, astrophysicists, astronomers and mathematicians of the 20th century, as they contributed to the ongoing research on white dwarfs, black holes and stellar structure. The story begins in August of 1930, when - on a voyage from India to London - Chandra determined that certain types of stars would collapse to infinity upon their deaths. In 1935 he presented a paper at the Royal Astronomical Society outlining this theory. Eddington savaged his research and ridiculed the concept, setting back the concept of black holes for decades. Even though many other scientists privately agreed with Chandra, they were loath to publicly come to his defense, as Eddington commanded such respect in the field. Many other scientists also didn't want to believe such a radical theory was possible, so they chose to ignore Chandra's mathematical proof. Using Chandra's own words from letters and journal entries, as well as interviews with Chandra's wife Lalitha and other scientists, Miller explores the damage to Chandra's psyche by the attack on his theories in 1935, something from which he never truly recovered. Becoming prone to bouts of deep depression in his later life, Chandra's bitterness over the episode colored everything he did and felt. Even when he was awarded a Nobel prize in 1983, he felt slighted. "…the citation specified that the award was in recognition of 'one of Chandrasekhar's most well-known contributions, his study of the structure of white dwarfs'." (Miller; p. 238) "Chandra was aggrieved. As far as he was concerned, the body of work he had produced over his whole life had been disregarded." (Miller; p. 238) The book follows the decades-long study of the deaths of stars, a study which only returned to and embraced Chandra's ideas in the 1960s and 1970s. Miller does a fine job of presenting very complex theoretical physics in a readable and understandable manner. Recommended for collections in physics, astronomy and the physical sciences. Published by YBP Library Services 999 Maple St., Contoocook, NH 03229 USA v: 800.258.3774   f: 603.746.5628 w: www.ybp.com   e: academia@ybp.com All rights reserved.