LIST OF SOME SELECTED BO OKS

LIST OF SOME SELECTED BOOKS History of Astronomy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo 1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11.

12. 13.

Dava Sobel, Galileo’s Daughter, Fourth Estate, London (1999) Rocky Kolb, Blind Watchers of the Sky, Oxford University Press, Oxford (1999) Arthur Beer and K. A Strand (eds), ‘Copernicus Yesterday and Today’, Vistas in Astronomy Vol. 17, Pergamon Press, Oxford (1975) Arthur Beer and Peter Beer (eds), ‘Kepler – Four Hundred Years’, Vistas in Astronomy Vol. 18, Pergamon Press, Oxford (1975) In particular: Owen Gingerich., ‘Kepler’s Place in Astronomy’ Peter Machamer (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Galileo, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1998) Galileo Galilei, Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences, Prometheus Books, New York, NY (1991) Oliver Lodge, Pioneers of Science, Dover Publications, New York, NY (1960) Patrick Moore, The Great Astronomical Revolution, Albion Publishing, Chichester (1994) Galileo Galilei, Dialogue Concerning two Systems of the World: Ptolemaic and Copernican, trans. Stillman Drake, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA (1967) Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers, Pelican Books, London (1982) S.K. Biswas, D.C.V. Mallik, and C.V. Vishveshwara (eds), Cosmic Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1989) In particular: Joseph Needham, ‘Astronomy in Ancient and Medieval China’ C.V. Vihsveshwara, ‘Geometry and the Universe’ Thomas S. Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1979) David H. Clark and Richard F. Stephenson, The Historical Supernovae, Pergamon Press, Oxford (1977)

Newton 1.

2.

Isaac Newton, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The Principia: Sir Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and His System of the World, Translated into English by Andrew Mott in 1729. Revised and supplied with a historical and explanatory appendix by Florian Cajori, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA (1946) S. Chandrasekhar, Newton’s Principia for the Common Reader, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1995)

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LIST OF SOME SELECTED BO OKS

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

William Stukeley, Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life, Taylor and Francis, London (1936) E.N. da C. Andrade, Sir Isaac Newton, Collins, London (1954) Richard S. Westfall, The Life of Isaac Newton, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1993) Richard S. Westfall, Never at Rest, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1980) Derek Gjertsen, The Newton Handbook, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York (1986) Frank E. Manuel, A Portrait of Isaac Newton, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1968)

Constellations and Myths 1. 2. 3.

Roy A. Gallant, The Constellations: How They Came to Be, Four Winds Press, New York, NY (1979) Robert Graves, Greek Gods and Heroes, Dell Publishing Company, New York, NY (1972) New Larousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology, Hamlyn, London (1984)

Astrophysics and Cosmology 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Frank H. Shu, The Physical Universe - An Introduction to Astronomy, University Science Books, Mill Valley, CA (1982) William J. Kaufmann III, Universe, W H Freeman Company, New York (1985) Michael Zeilik, Astronomy - The Evolving Universe, Harper & Row, New York (1982} Michael Zeilik and Stephen A. Gregory, Introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics, Saunders College Publishing, New York (1998) Herbert Friedman, The Amazing Universe, National Geographic Society, Washington D.C. (1975)

Einstein, Relativity, Gravitation, and Black Holes 1.

2.

Albert, Einstein, ‘Autobiographical Notes’ in Albert Einstein: Philosopher – Scientist, (ed.) Paul Arthur Schilpp, Tudor Publishing Company, New York, NY (1951) Banesh Hoffmann, Albert Einstein, creator and rebel, Viking Press, New York, NY (1972)

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3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

20. 21.

Ronald W. Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times, Avon, New York, NY (1972) Alice Calaprice (Editor), The New Quotable Einstein, © 2005 Princeton University Press and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Reprinted by Permission of Princeton University Press Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, Bantam Books, London (1988) Isaac Newton, Opticks, Dover, New York, NY (1952) Leopold Infeld, Quest, Chelsea Publishing Company, New York, NY (1980) H. A. Lorentz, A. Einstein, H. Weyl and H. Minkowski, The Principle of Relativity; a collection of original memoirs on the special and general theory of relativity, notes by A. Sommerfeld, trans. W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffery, Methuen & Co., London (1923) Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman (eds), Albert Einstein – The Human Side, new glimpses from his archives, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ (1979) Don Howard and John Stachel (eds), Einstein and the History of General Relativity, based on Proceedings, 1986 Osgood Hill Conference, North Andover, MA, 8—11 May 1986, Birkhäuser, Boston, MA (1989) In particular: Jean Eisenstaedt, ‘The Early Interpretation of the Schwarzschild Solution’ John Stachel, Einstein from ‘B’ to ‘Z’, Birkhäuser, Boston, MA (2002) John Stachel (ed.), Einstein’s Miraculous Year: Five Papers That Changed the Face of Physics, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ (1998) Jean-Pierre Luminet, Black Holes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1987) Kip S. Thorne, Black Holes and Time Warps, WW Norton (1994) Bala R. Iyer and Biplab Bhawal (eds), Black Holes, Gravitational Radiation and the Universe, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (1999) Bernard Schutz, Gravity: From the Ground Up, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2003) James Hartle, Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein’s General Relativity, Addison Wesley, San Francisco, CA (2003) Roger Penrose, The Road to Reality, Jonathan Cape, London (2004) Gerd Weiberg and Frank Berberich (eds), Der Einstein–Komplex, Verlag Das Wunderhorn (2005) In particular: Freeman Dyson, ‘Every Genius Has a Blind Spot’ C. V. Vishveshwara, ‘Lamentations of Light’ S, Chandrasekhar, Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL (1987) Harry Woolf, ed., Some Strangeness in the Proportion: A Centennial Symposium to Celebrate the Achievements of Albert Einstein, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA (1980)

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LIST OF SOME SELECTED BO OKS

In particular: Robert Mann, ‘On Playing with Scientists: Remarks at the Einstein Centennial Celebration Concert by the Juilliard Quartet’ Panel Discussion, ‘Working with Einstein’ Panelists: Banesh Hoffmann (Moderator), Valentine Bargmann, Peter G. Bergmann, Ernst G. Strauss 22. C.P. Snow, ‘On Einstein the Man’ in Albert Einstein: Four Commemorative Lectures, Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, TX (1979) 23. George Gamow, One, Two, Three…Infinity, Dover Publications, New York, NY (1974) 24. C.W., Misner, K.S., Thorne, J.A Wheeler, Gravitation, W.H. Freeman, New York, NY (1973)

Others 1.

George Gamow, Mr Tompkins in Paperback, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1995). 2. Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871), Macmillan & Co, London 3. Arthur Conan Doyle, The Annotated Sherlock Holmes (Edited, with an Introduction, Notes, and Bibliography by William S. Baring-Gould), Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. New York, NY (1975) 4. William Shakespeare, The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, (eds) S. Wells, G. Taylor, J. Jowett and W. Montgomery, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2005) 5. Peter D. Usher, ‘Shakespeare’s Cosmic World View’, Mercury, Vol. 26, No. 1, Jan–Feb (1997) 6. Dante Alighieri, L’Inferno, Translated by Dorothy L. Sayers, Penguin Books, London (1949) 7. D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, On Growth and Form, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1985) 8. Salvador Dali, 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship, Dover Publications, New York, NY (1992) 9. Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary from The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce, Citadel Press, New York, NY (1946) 10. T. S. Eliot, The Complete Poems and Plays, Faber and Faber, London (1942) 11. Omar Khayyam, Rubáiyát, Rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald, Rupa & Co, New Delhi (2000)

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ACKNOWLED GEMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Let me begin at the beginning. Sometime ago, I sought the opinion of Roger Penrose on a preliminary draft of the first three chapters of the present book. Subsequently, he wrote me that he had greatly enjoyed reading the draft and that I must complete the project of writing the book. This endorsement was quite important to me in continuing the work I had started in view of the rather unconventional structure and style of the book. Now, as the happy conclusion to the work that began with the initial impulse he gave, Penrose has been most generous in his estimate of the entire book. I am immensely grateful to him for his encouragement. Charles Misner, who was my thesis advisor in the sixties and introduced me to the world of black holes, and Anthony Leggett kindly agreed to review the manuscript and offer their pre-publication opinions. Their comments too have been most complimentary and gratifying. I am deeply indebted to them. As the book reached its final stages, came the task of finding a publisher. In this regard, my old friend Reinhard Breuer, with whom I have collaborated on black-hole research in the past and who is now the Chief Editor of the German scientific journal Spektrum der Wissenschaft, came to my aid. He introduced me to Springer thereby assuring the publication of the book. It is indeed a great pleasure to thank him for this all-important step. Thus began my long, happy, and fruitful interaction with Ramon Khanna, Editor for Physics and Astronomy of Springer. His reaction on perusing some sample chapters was one of exceptional enthusiasm. An astrophysicist, who has worked on blackhole magnetohydrodynamics, Ramon has read the manuscript with great care, constantly making perceptive suggestions and constructive criticisms, often seeking crucial clarifications, especially in regard to the parts involving the general theory of relativity and black holes. He has contributed enormously to the shaping up of the text at many places. I cannot thank him enough for his personal interest and efforts. Storm Dunlop, himself a writer, translator, and copy editor of both technical and popular books, has provided the necessary editorial help. He has gone over the manuscript in detail, trimming up the text at places and ensuring correct grammar and idiom. Moreover, with his own background in astronomy, he has been able to offer significant information and suggestions. I am very happy to thank him for this. I would also like to thank Ramon Khanna’s colleagues at Springer who have been very helpful during the production of the book. My artist friend Gujjar has done a remarkable job in producing the technical drawings throughout the text, illustrations for Chapter 15, including those featuring the characters from Alice in Wonder-

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land, and the artwork for the cover. Working with him has been an exhilarating experience. I acknowledge with pleasure Gujjar’s creative work, which he has done with admirable enthusiasm and patience. Among my own cartoons, the drawings of Yang Wei-Te and the combat between Orion and Scorpio were inspired by the beautiful paintings of Chandranath Acharya that were specially made for the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bangalore. For more than two decades now, I have benefited from discussions on various aspects of the general theory of relativity including black holes with Bala Iyer, especially during a long spell of collaborative research. While writing the book too, I have consulted him, especially about gravitational waves. I have had extensive discussions on a variety of topics in astrophysics with Arun Mangalam and C. S. Shukre. The knowledge I gained from them has been invaluable. Throughout the preparation of the book, H. R. Madhusudana has helped me in many ways such as supplying necessary information, suggesting relevant books and so on. Similarly, B.S. Shylaja has provided astronomical information whenever necessary. It is a pleasure to thank all of these friends. Those of you, who are avid watchers of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies like me, know how he makes brief appearances in his own movies. When asked about this practice of his, he is said to have explained that he did that since other directors would not allow him to appear in their movies. Following his example, I have included my own poems in the book. Except for the poetry quoted along with the names of the poets, I have written all the other poems including the translation of Einstein’s poetic tribute to Newton. Sergio Galeani created the “original” Italian song featured in Chapter 6 by translating the one I wrote in English. He has also advised me on Italian usage. I owe the Greek and Latin expressions and quotations I have used in the text to Jesús Moya. This includes his creation of the Latin version of my dictum: A sound mind in a round body. I am indebted to both of them for their help. I have received interesting and important information from several friends and colleagues through personal communication. They include: Marek A. Abramowicz, Jayanth R. Banavar, Harish C. Bhatt, Sayan Kar, C.Sivaram, and Paul J. Wiita. The library-staff of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, in particular A.Vagiswari and Christina Birdie, and the library-staff of Raman Research Institute, in particular S.Geetha, S.Girija, and Vrinda J. Benegal, have always assisted me readily and cheerfully in providing the books I needed. I thank all of the above people with pleasure. As it always happens, I might have left out by oversight the names of others who have helped me during the preparation of the book. My sincere thanks are due to them, even if I do not know who they are at the moment.

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Now for my family. My younger daughter, Namitha, is my link to modern pop music. Furthermore, the name of the imaginary music group appearing in Chapter 2, Nam’s Nanosingers, has been derived from her name. I do hope that, one of these days, she will make the group a reality. Her elder sister, Smitha, is my Italian connection who has supplied, among other things, Italian expressions and all sorts of culinary information. She was the originator, at age fifteen, of the name Feynperchild. My two daughters provided me with the material related to the performance of Miserere. My wife, Saraswathi, has been a source of strength and support all along. She has advised me in many ways and assisted me in the preparation of the manuscript, including the handling of the computer – literally a black box to me. I have had highly enjoyable discussions with all three of them on various aspects of the book. More than anything else, but for the constant and enthusiastic encouragement I have received from them, which helped me keep up my spirits, I might not have brought the book to completion at all. And finally, I thank you, dear reader – whoever you are and wherever you are – with all my heart. Without you, what would be the use of this book? Bangalore, India

C. V. Vishveshwara

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