Frozen Star

by George Greenstein

Frozen Star Greenstein, George

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit goofy, and surely a lot of the science is completely out of date but I feel like I "get" pulars and black holes a lot better now. The vignettes about Chandrasekhar, Joceyln Burnell, and the Quabbin Reservoir observatory are super compelling as well, and vividly drawn

[Dan Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this ages ago, and I suppose that a lot of details have been superseded. But the author's visual creativity made it really engrossing and memorable, even fantastical. He describes a micro-black hole; not in space in some dry technical portrait, but something that seems to have appeared in his university office--who knows why, lol. He starts sticking things in it. Pulls stuff out of his waste basket, paper whatever.
He tentatively tossess in a discarded orange-peel. 'Even the smell is gone.' Who the heIl writes like that? I won't divulge any more; the scene escalates grandly from these humble beginnings and it's like being in a sci-fi movie, except the guy knows his stuff...

[Jeff Matsushita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts promising. Then gets bogged down a bit as it explains the physics of neutron stars, but the historical background is interesting through.
There is some good storytelling here. Almost as if the author would rather be publishing fiction and has found a way to insert some of that passion in the book.
Ultimately when he gets to black holes, the book gets infinitely more interesting and stays that way until the final pages when he begins asserting that humans are intrigued by black holes for sexual reasons.
Glad I finally read it from cover to cover. The stores of Chandrasekhar and Hawking and even Uhura (that satellite, not the Star Trek character) are fascinating and fun.
A book I would recommend to others if they have interest in the subject.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This early 1980s time capsule of the state of astrophysics knowledge was very interesting to me... until the last few pages. The explanations, anecdotes, and analogies presented by the author throughout the vast majority of the book are interesting and helpful in painting a picture for the reader regarding extremely complex concepts such as neutron stars, singularities, black holes, and general relativity. However, the last few pages of the book jump off the deep end into comparing black holes to women's privates and introduce confusing, fairly explicit sexual analogies which honestly made zero sense and had no place in this book.

[Carol Rose Stark Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nonfiction. Amazing discussion of pulsars, black holes, and the fate of stars. Very compelling presentation of Einstein's Special and General Theories of Relativity, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. I particularly enjoyed the accessiblity of Schwarzchild's contributions and Quantum Mechanics

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nonfiction book about pulsars, black holes and other interesting astronomical topics. It was very good reading but was written in 1983 so it is certainly dated now. I read it back in the mid-80s

[Amanda Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this back in high school. It's fantastic, though totally dated.