Chapter 5.5 Space time wrinkles

In 1905, Albert Einstein published his famous Special Theory of Relativity and overthrew commonsense assumptions about space and time. Relative to the observer, both are altered near the speed of light: distances appear to stretch; clocks tick more slowly.

A decade and a year later, Einstein further challenged conventional wisdom by describing gravity as the warping of spacetime, not a force acting at a distance. Since then, Einstein's revolutionary insights have largely stood the test of time. One by one, his predictions have been borne out by experiment and observation.

But it wasn't until much later that scientists accepted one of the most dramatic ramifications of Einstein's theory of gravitation: the existence of black holes from whose extreme gravity nothing, not even light, can escape. Major advances in computation are only now enabling scientists to simulate how black holes form, evolve, and interact. They're betting on powerful instruments now under construction to confirm that these exotic objects actually exist.

¡@