Facing Infinity: Black Holes and Our Place on Earth

by Jonas Enander, Nichola Smalley (Translator), Frank Wilczek (Foreword by)

Overview

A fresh, fascinating, up-to-the-moment appraisal of black holes—the massive astronomical objects with a gravitational pull so strong nothing can escape them, not even light—that situates them at the center of our understanding of our place on Earth and of the universe

Humanity’s relationship with black holes began in 1783 in a small English village, when clergyman John Michell posed a startling question: What if there are objects in space that are so large and heavy that not even light can escape them? Almost 250 years later, in April 2019, scientists presented the first picture of a black hole. Profoundly inspired by that image, physicist Jonas Enander has traveled the world to investigate how our understanding of these elusive celestial objects has evolved since the days of Michell. 

With the particular goal of discovering our human connection to black holes, Enander visits telescopes and observatories, delves deeply into archives, and interviews over 20 world-leading experts, including several Nobel laureates. With Facing Infinity, he takes us on a spellbinding journey into the universe’s greatest mystery, deciphers the most mind-bending science, and answers questions surrounding how black holes work, where they come from, and what role they play in the universe. 

Along the way Enander discovers how our desire to understand black holes inadvertently paved the way for the invention of Wi-Fi and the calibration of our global navigation satellites, how astronomical discovery became entangled with colonial conflicts, and how our looking outward gave us critical evidence of the impact of climate change. Facing Infinity helps us appreciate and understand as never before these mysterious celestial objects and our surprising connections to them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798893030853
Publisher:	The Experiment
Publication date:	09/09/2025
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Jonas Enander, PhD, is a science writer and communicator with a background in cosmology and astrophysics. His previous research focused on dark matter and Einstein’s theory of general relativity. He has worked as a physics teacher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and as a science communicator at the Oskar Klein Centre, also in Stockholm, and participated in the construction of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. He hosts the podcasts Spacetime Fika (in English) and Rumtiden (in Swedish).

Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a graduate student. He was among the earliest MacArthur fellows, and has won many awards both for his scientific work and his writing. He is the author of A Beautiful Question, The Lightness of Being, Fantastic Realities, Longing for the Harmonies, Fundamentals, and hundreds of articles in leading scientific journals. His “Wilczek’s Universe” column appears regularly in The Wall Street Journal. Wilczek is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founding director of the T. D. Lee Institute and chief scientist at the Wilczek Quantum Center in Shanghai, China, and a distinguished professor at Arizona State University and Stockholm University.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Ring of Light at the Edge of the Darkness

PART I: AMONG STARS, WAR AND DARKNESS

1. The Priest Who Wanted to Weigh the Stars
2. The Dark Heart of the Milky Way
3. The Astronomer at the Mountain of Death
4. Einstein and the Blind Beetle
5. Beyond the Event Horizon
   

PART II: BLACK HOLES IN THE DEPTHS OF SPACE

1. The Death of a Star and the Spacetime Vortex
2. A Cosmic Symphony
3. Shadowhunters
4. The Origin of Giants

PART III: BLACK HOLES AND OUR PLACE ON EARTH

1. Powehi and Power Over the Land
2. The Threat From the Sea
3. Black Holes Are Our Fathers
4. Hawking’s Last Journey
5. Are We Living in a Black Hole?

Acknowledgments

Notes

Sources

Editorial Reviews

"Facing Infinity is an especially attractive introduction to a wonderfully attractive subject."— from the foreword by Frank Wilczek, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of Fundamentals and A Beautiful Question

"A thorough book, grand and inclusive but never intimidating. Indeed, Enander’s writing is so accessible that, at times, he seems like a travel writer who just so happens to speak the local language."— Forbes

"A book that makes the case that black holes are more than just an intellectual curiosity."— The Space Review

"Weaves a captivating account of the most extraordinary objects in the universe: black holes. A superior account."— Marcus Chown, author of A Crack in Everything

"In this unusual and moving history of black holes, Jonas Enander reveals how human beings relate—personally and culturally—to the most extreme objects in the cosmos. Facing Infinity is a tribute to the human motivations and experiences that drive scientific discovery."— Patchen Barss, author of The Impossible Man

"Praise for the Swedish Edition

"Without assuming any prior knowledge on the subject, the book provides an in-depth and completely up-to-date picture of the black hole phenomenon and the main protagonists in the growth of knowledge. Enander describes even complicated phenomena in an easy-to-understand, clear and lively manner, and spices it up with thought-provoking, personal reflections and tantalizing details, making the reading accessible, fun and exciting."— Ola Svärd, BTJ

"An A in physics is not required to understand Facing Infinity. It is as much a portrayal of the people behind the discoveries."— Vi

"This is a marvelous popular science book, where the author seamlessly weaves together the black holes with the people behind the research, and also with humanity at large. It’s clear that Jonas Enander knows the physics he’s writing about, and that he can explain it to anyone interested in learning more."— Katrin Ros, Populär Astronomi

"I am sucked in and turn the pages hungrily, noting fine analogies made in an almost poetic prose. Jonas Enander is obviously a skilled science communicator."— Katarina O’Nils Franke, Axess

"[Facing Infinity] is written as a reportage about the scientists who observe black holes, and it explains what they know about these strange celestial bodies in an initiated and nuanced way."— Julia Ravanis, SvD

From the Publisher