BOOKS

Light in the Darkness

Heino Falcke

Wildfire

£20 • HB

Two years ago, an iconic photo graced the front pages of newspapers all over the world: a slightly asymmetric orange ring, surrounding a pitch-black centre.

The first image of a black hole, some 55 million lightyears away, put us face to face with the ultimate cosmic mystery: a one-way abyss in spacetime that may hold the key to our deepest understanding of nature.

The black hole image was the result of years of planning, organising and fundraising. Radio observatories across the world (including ALMA) joined forces, and telescopes needed high-tech upgrades. Personal rivalry played a role, too, in particular between Harvard astrophysicist Shep Doeleman and