Empire Of The Stars: Obsession, Friendship, and Betrayal in the Quest for Black Holes Hardcover – April 25, 2005

Dow memories of Chandra and of my now deceased husband’s career as an astrophysicist.

"Empire of the Stars" is a stellar depiction of astrophysics and the astrophysicists who make sense of it all. Miller focuses on the personalities and foibles of the men and women scientists who have contributed to our understanding of stars. The author presents their research through anecdotes and scientific discussions in the context of historical events. This gives added relevancy and significance to their work. In effect, Miller's formula for storytelling delivers new dimensions to astrophysics in "book-spacetime."The thrust of the book revolves around the scientific battle between Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Chandra) and Sir Arthur Eddington over star collapse. Although it becomes apparent that Chandra's brilliant insight is correct, it is Chandra who becomes disillusioned and professionally detoured by the controversy. Chandra seeks refuge at Chicago where he flourishes in his research endeavors and is recognized as world-renowned scientist.The book is a colorful exposition on the genesis of black-hole theory. Miller uses historical events and the scientists themselves to reveal the mysteries of the stars. This book is a supernova for those interested in a biography of Chandra and a history of astrophysics.

If you like books described by the title above, you'll enjoy Empire of the Stars. The core of the book is a straightforward biography of Chandrasekhar, but that story is well wrapped in a social history of the international scientific community of the 20th Century. Author Arthur Miller does not convince all readers of his bold thesis that the clash between Chandra and Eddington impeded scientific progress by decades, but the interest of the book does not hinge on that dramatic device.

Apart from an excellent description of a scientific theory for the benefit of the informed layman, it is also a fascinating story of the trials and tribulations of a great mind and how personal ego and preconceived notions of his colleagues made them blind to his epoch-making discoveries.

The item is of good quality and arrived on time.

The book clearly brings out the genius of Chandra and racial behaviour of famous British scientistHow that racial put off finally killed a brilliant man and frustrated a brilliant mind

Very interesting book. It attempts to uncover and describe the reasons and motives behind the clash between two great minds, from different cultures and the competitiveness among scientists. The background for all this is 1930's UK.

This book is really two very different books. The first part is a well written and engaging biography of Chandra's early life and scientific work. The central themes of the conflicts and disappointments in Chandra's life are handled very well and illustrate quite a bit about how science is done at a personal and institutional level.The second half is a terribly rushed whirlwind history of the convergence nuclear physics and astrophysics from WWII to the present that conspicuously forgets to mention Chandra except when, apparently, an editor reminded the author what the subject of the book was. It is full of questionable descriptions of the science, complete with an awfully annoying habit of referring to cosmic distances in units of 'trillions of miles'. It ends with a facile and hurried summation of the man's life and work in a loosely bound collection of platitudes and superficially rendered views expressed by those who knew him.in short, the first half was well worth the price of the book. The second half was almost worth the time it took to read it.