Death By A Black Hole

Why death by a black hole is possibly the worst way to die

Neil deGrasse Tyson, atrophysicist and science educator extraordinarire – delights us in his wonderfully engaging Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, where he takes on explosions, impossibly vast distances and incredibly strong forces. With a playful, curious approach at heart, deGrasse Tyson nevertheless manages to communicate the problems in astrophysics today in a manner that befits scientists and non-scientists alike. With his characteristic acumen and flair for explanation, science’s most beloved contemporary populariser takes us through particle phsyics, relativity, interplanetary space travel, and other curiosities.

Taking on popular myths, common misconceptions, and mind-boggling scientific conundrums, Neil deGrasse Tyson playfully engages our imagination by exercising our curiosity. Divided in seven parts:  “The Nature of Knowledge,” “The Knowledge of Nature,” “Ways and Means of Nature,” “The Meaning of Life,” “When the Universe Turns Bad,” “Science and Culture,” and “Science and God’, Death by a Black Hole manages to educate and entertain, coming off across as being both highly engaging, accessible, and witty.

Bonus: In this video short, Neil de Grasse Tyson explains what actually happens when you fall into black hole: As you approach a black hole,  the differences in gravity at your feet and your head – as you are getting sucked into it – stretches your body and elongates it into one long strip of fleshy string. As you approach nearer and nearer, the body breaks and snaps. And the worst part is: you are alive as it happens. Because your vital organs are still present in the upper half of the body, you will still retain consciousness for few precious moments after your lower half breaks away. Physicists have a word for that: spaghettification.