Black holes are without doubt the strangest and most extraordinary objects in space. These phenomena have intrigued and baffled astronomers ever since they were conceived of, and so here are 10 interesting quotes about black holes that convey their awesome power.
John Michell (1724–1793): “If the semi-diameter of a sphere of the same density as the Sun were to exceed that of the Sun in the proportion of 500 to 1, a body falling from an infinite height towards it would have acquired at its surface greater velocity than that of light, and consequently..all light emitted from such a body would be made to return towards it by its own proper gravity.”
Albert Einstein (1879– 1955): “Black holes are where God divided by zero.”
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995): “The black holes of nature are the most perfect macroscopic objects there are in the universe: the only elements in their construction are our concepts of space and time.”
John Wheeler (1911–2008): “[The black hole] teaches us that space can be crumpled like a piece of paper into an infinitesimal dot, that time can be extinguished like a blown-out flame, and that the laws of physics that we regard as ‘sacred,’ as immutable, are anything but.”
Walker Percy (1916-1990): “Why it is that of all the billions and billions of strange objects in the Cosmos; novas, quasars, pulsars, black holes you are beyond doubt the strangest?”
Robert Coover (1932): “Black holes are the seductive dragons of the universe, outwardly quiescent yet violent at the heart, uncanny, hostile, primeval, emitting a negative radiance that draws all toward them, gobbling up all who come too close…these strange galactic monsters, for whom creation is destruction, death life, chaos order.”
Stephen Hawking (1942): “Consideration of particle emission from black holes would seem to suggest that God not only plays dice, but also sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.”
Eric Chaisson (1952?): “Researchers argue that it’s of utmost importance to unravel the nature of black holes, lest we someday begin to worship them. Sounds ridiculous, but whole segments of humankind have often revered the unknowable, venerating that which cannot be tested experimentally. Come to think of it, many still do in twenty-first-century society.”
Elia Wise (1955): “The collective or star referred to as Black Hole is neither dead nor gone. Its focus of consciousness is just temporarily redirected into other dimensional co-ordinates that preclude its appearance in your space/time continuum…Your scientists think of it as being sealed off behind its own event horizon. In fact it is Human perception that is sealed off behind their current consciousness horizon.”
Yuri Milner (1961): “It is hard to think of practical applications of the black hole. Because practical applications are so remote, many people assume we should not be interested. But this quest to understand the world is what defines us as human beings.”