The road to reality a complete guide to the laws of the universe
Main Author: | Penrose, Roger. |
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Format: | Books Print Book |
Language: | English |
Published: |
New York :
A.A. Knopf : Distributed by Random Hosue,
2005.
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Edition: | 1st American ed. |
Subjects: |
Physical Description: |
xxviii, 1099 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. |
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Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 1050-1085) and index. |
ISBN: |
0679454438 (alk. paper) |
Author Notes: |
Penrose, a mathematician and theoretical physicist, has done much to elucidate the fundamental properties of black holes. With Stephen Hawking, Penrose proved a theorem of Albert Einstein's general relativity, asserting that at the center of a black hole there must evolve a "space-time singularity" of zero volume and infinite density, in which the current laws of physics do not apply. He also proposed the hypothesis of "cosmic censorship," which claims that such singularities must possess an event horizon. In 1969 Penrose described a process for the extraction of energy from a black hole, as well as how rotational energy of the black hole is transferred to a particle outside the hole. In addition, Penrose has done much to develop the mathematics needed to unite general relativity, which deals with the gravitational interactions of matter, and quantum mechanics, which describes all other interactions. (Bowker Author Biography) |