Supermassive
Black Holes at the Beginning and End of the Universe
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Narrated by:
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Fred Sanders
About this listen
Black holes, demystified: follow along the quest to understand the history and influence of one of space science's most fascinating and confounding phenomena
Led by physicist James Trefil and astrophysicist Shobita Satyapal, this book traverses the incredible history of black holes and introduces contemporary developments and theories on still unanswered questions about the enigmatic objects. From the early work of Albert Einstein and Karl Schwarzschild to an insider look at black hole-galaxy connection research led by co-author Satyapa, the comprehensive book surveys an exciting and evolving branch of space science, with topics that include:
- Visibility of black hole
- Quasars, the brightest objects in the universe
- The black hole at the center of the Milky Way
- Popular theories on the origin of black holes
- Cosmic X rays
- Death of supermassives
- Black hole collisions
- Black holes in science fiction
Invisible to the naked eye and telescopes, black holes have mystified and entranced astronomers, scientists, and humanity for more than a century. The first image of a supermassive black hole was only unveiled in 2019, and new black holes are continually discovered. Supermassive illuminates what we know about black holes so far and what we have yet to uncover.
©2025 James Trefil and Shobita Satyapal (P)2025 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story5 out of 5 stars 6
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores their newly discovered brilliance and how it came about. As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research, Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are shifting our view of what it means to be intelligent.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic Book
- By JK Denver on 06-08-25
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The Ideological Brain
- The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking
- By: Leor Zmigrod
- Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Leor Zmigrod reveals the deep connection between political beliefs and the biology of the brain. Drawing on her own pioneering research, she uncovers the complex interplay between biology and environment that predisposes some individuals to rigid ways of thinking, and explains how ideologies take hold of our brains, fundamentally changing the way we think, act and interact with others.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant work!
- By Kevin Rosen on 05-24-25
By: Leor Zmigrod
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Birds, Sex and Beauty
- The Extraordinary Implications of Charles Darwin's Strangest Idea
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Matt Ridley
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 3
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Story4 out of 5 stars 3
In all animals, mating is a deal. But few creatures behave as if sex is a simple, even mutually beneficial, transaction. Many more treat it with reverence, suspicion, angst, and violence. In the case of the Black Grouse, the bird at the center of Matt Ridley’s investigation, the males dance and sing for hours a day, for several exhausting months, in an arduous and even deadly ritual called a “lek.” To prepare for the ordeal, they grow, preen and display fancy, twisted, bold-colored feathers. When achieved, consummation with a female takes seconds.
By: Matt Ridley
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Perseverance
- Life and Death in the Subarctic
- By: Stephan Kesting
- Narrated by: Stephan Kesting
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5
The Canadian North is a vast and lonely land where bears roam free, fires rage unchecked, and storms blast every living thing on the tundra. When Stephan Kesting, already no stranger to pushing his own physical limits, was faced with a rare illness, he knew the only way for him to recover in both body and mind was to dig even deeper. Despite the dangers inherent in the sub-arctic, Kesting sets out on an unimaginably difficult journey.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Engaging and inspirational
- By SchoolEvaluators on 06-16-25
By: Stephan Kesting
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Vatican Spies
- From the Second World War to Pope Francis
- By: Yvonnick Denoël, Alan McKay - translator
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1
"Officially" the Vatican has no espionage service; but does no one carry out intelligence operations on its behalf? During the Second World War and Cold War, Rome was teeming with spies. A band of undercover monsignors and priests hunted for Vatican "moles," led clandestine diplomacy, investigated assassinations of priests and other scandals threatening the Church, and conducted high-risk missions behind the Iron Curtain.
By: Yvonnick Denoël, and others
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The Body Is a Doorway: A Memoir
- A Journey Beyond Healing, Hope, and the Human
- By: Sophie Strand
- Narrated by: Sophie Strand
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 28
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story5 out of 5 stars 28
At age sixteen Sophie Strand—bright, agile, fearless—is suddenly beset by unexplained, debilitating illness while on a family trip abroad. Her once vibrant life becomes a tangled miasma of medication, specialists, anaphylaxis, and seemingly never-ending attempts to explain what has gone so terribly wrong. And, for many years thereafter, Sophie's life becomes subsumed with ideas not of "health," but of explanation, and the narrative of how and why she became sick. But slowly, she comes to another, more fundamental understanding of what has happened to her body.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Deeply human
- By Anonymous User on 06-11-25
By: Sophie Strand
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When the Earth Was Green
- Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
- By: Riley Black
- Narrated by: Wren Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4 out of 5 stars 34
Riley Black brings us back in time to prehistoric seas, swamps, forests, and savannas where critical moments in plant evolution unfolded. Each chapter stars plants and animals alike, underscoring how the interactions between species have helped shape the world we call home. As the chapters move upwards in time, Black guides listeners along the burgeoning trunk of the Tree of Life, stopping to appreciate branches of an evolutionary story that links the world we know with one we can only just perceive now through the silent stone, from ancient roots to the present.
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1 out of 5 stars
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No argument
- By Anonymous User on 05-20-25
By: Riley Black
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Quanta and Fields
- The Biggest Ideas in the Universe
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
Sean Carroll is creating a profoundly new approach to sharing physics with a broad audience, one that goes beyond analogies to show how physicists really think. He cuts to the bare mathematical essence of our most profound theories, explaining every step in a uniquely accessible way. Quantum field theory is how modern physics describes nature at its most profound level. Starting with the basics of quantum mechanics itself, Sean Carroll explains measurement and entanglement before explaining how the world is really made of fields.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Difficult
- By Richard on 08-25-24
By: Sean Carroll
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Carbon
- The Book of Life
- By: Paul Hawken
- Narrated by: Peter Coyote
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story5 out of 5 stars 20
Carbon is the only element that animates the entirety of the living world. Though comprising a tiny fraction of Earth’s composition, our planet is lifeless without it. Yet it is maligned as the driver of climate change, scorned as an errant element blamed for the possible demise of civilization. Here, Paul Hawken looks at the flow of life through the lens of carbon. Embracing a panoramic view of carbon’s omnipresence, he explores how this ubiquitous and essential element extends into every aperture of existence and shapes the entire fabric of life.
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1 out of 5 stars
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aweful narration
- By Brettskie on 06-15-25
By: Paul Hawken
This book was everywhere for me…in all my feeds on social media, recommended on websites, and always in my Audible account. I purchased it with high hopes that something new was discovered. It wasn’t. If you’re an avid reader of popular science astronomy books or have a background in astrophysics there is absolutely nothing new here that hasn’t been written about hundreds of times before by other authors and astronomers. So, unless you want to hear the story of Penzias and Woodrow for the thousandth time, minor details about black holes, and a TikTok’s version of the universe’s end, then by all means waste your time on this dud.
Recommend for beginners
Avoid for enthusiasts with background
Nothing new
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Technical, dry with some interesting bits
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Fantastic Audiobook
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