Where does the name "black hole" come from?
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- Black holes used to be called "gravitationally completely collapsed objects" (or GCCOs) so where did the name "black hole" come from? Especially considering that they're not "black" or "holes"! #etymology #blackhole
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00:00 - Introduction
00:39 - The first scientific name for black holes: GCCOs
01:03 - Einstein's General Relativity and the idea of a "hole"
02:41 - They're not "holes": John Michell's "dark stars"
03:32 - Robert Dicke and the "Black Hole of Calcutta" prison
04:53 - The first use of "black hole" in print
05:13. -Popularising "black hole" in the late 60s
05:27 - They're not "black" either...
05:59 - Bloopers
Hawking (1970; "GCCOs" used) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/p...
Hawking (1971; "black hole" used) - www.nature.com/articles/23434...
Ann Ewing's "'Black holes' in space" article from 1964 (first time 'black hole" used in print) - www.jstor.org/stable/3947428?...
"A new way to visualize General Relativity" video from @ScienceClicEN - • A new way to visualize...
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👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
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Dark Star is the name of a very low budget 1974 science fiction movie. It is the first movie directed and produced by John Carpenter. Despite the name it doesn't have any Gravitationally Completely Collapsed Objects in it. It does have unstable planets, smart bombs, and surfing.
It was a bunch of hippy astronauts sent on a mission to destroy unstable planets but somehow the nuclear devices they used were actually destroying earth like planets instead.
Not to mention an alien cleverly disguised as a beach ball 😃
& a big alien inflatable balloon 🎈 🤣
Awesome movie. Watch it guys, its hilarious !!
And so philosophical.
@@shrodingerscatsflap1445 Your name is hilarious! 🤣
I knew about the black hole of Calcutta, having learnt about it in history class but never knew that's where the astronomical object got its name.
Galcutta has got nothing on Los Vegas.
I am from Calcutta/kolkata and i had no idea.
@@SyedSaifAbbasNaqvi - It's not, but it makes a good yarn.
> Like *The Big Bang!* It has an astronomicaly descriptive origin that has nothing to do with *Calcutta.* Just another example of web flooded misinformation.
@@alangarland8571 - Ah... this has escalated quickly, far away from the astronomy ;)
But yeah, I agree...
I feel "Dark Stars" shouldn't be the term either because the term "dark star" is fairly close to "black dwarves" which is already an existing cosmic entity. Maybe something like "Singularity stars" can catch on.
Well that is a thought. But could the world believe in Singularity as a adjective and not noun. 😏
This has been a pet peeve of mind for a long time too. Sometimes scientific names in an effort to make things easier to understand actually hurt scientific credibility since the layman doesn't understand the concept completely, but understands it enough to know that the name doesn't quite fit and then they think the whole thing is false.
well this "scientist" is the only one complaining about the term Black Hole; maybe she started her campaign with the sole purpose of selling her book, which incidentally she advertises every 2 min.
@@alerey4363 "scientist"?
Are you saying that because she made a video to promote her book that she isn't one? Chill. Plenty of scientists write books to supplement their income.
@@Rod934 well, if she's most worried about the wording Black Hole and showing off her book every 5 sentences...I'd say she's a merchant more than a scientist.
Remember the Pluto is not a planet debacle?
Any "scientist" worried about such tiny things is of course a "scientist".
@@alerey4363 Yeah you got no point, nobody needs to take you seriously about anything. You just a dumb troll.
@@alerey4363 bc this thing is discussed in her book... Omg u d u m b a s s, please think be4 cmt
In spite of its inaccuracy, BLACK HOLE is still a good name, probably the best name since it is already in the vernacular. In physics "black" is a general reference for something which absorbs all light. It doesn't reflect, it doesn't emit. A hole doesn't have to only mean a hollow place in a surface. It can also mean an undefined region where things (and light) seem to disappear.
The black part is fine ... the hole part not so much.
I mean, you could go with Black Star, too.
'Black' can also refer to something unknown / concealed. Like a black box, or a black project. So I think that part of the name makes sense, given that it's currently impossible to confirm what's going on inside a black hole.
I really wish dark star had caught on. Not only is it less confusing, but it's significantly cooler.
It is a hole because stuff fall in it.
It is black because light does not get reflected off it.
the name is correct.
Various (English-language) physics books say that in the 60s and early 70s, the term "black hole" was not popular in France, where it was viewed as obscene. I guess some people at the time used the term "le trou noir" as slang for "anus." But they lost in the end, because the French term is still "trou noir."
In the end... 🧐
One of my students introduced me to your videos. Adding you to my curriculum now! Great to see women in STEM taking over the galaxy! And also someone who explains concepts so clearly, thank you!
I like the sound of 'Dark Star'. You should start a campaign to get it officially recognised. 🤔
I started reading your book this evening. Only finished the introduction so far but I'm really enjoying it. Well done.
There's also the fact that there are so many songs called "Dark Star" and yet there is a dance around the term that never really explains what the people are singing or playing their instruments about.
Oh and for favourites of songs called "Dark Star", I have to go with the tune by Jackal & Hyde.
@@phillipsiebold8351 Somewhere in between lies 'Black Star' by Radiohead, which means I'm going to have to dig up my copy of The Bends and give it a spin soon.
Maybe not start the campaign the day the book comes out? 🤔 😂
Dark star… Death Star… Hmmm. Many _are_ sized about right for a moon…
@@Relkond lol nice
I remember receiving George Greenstein’s book “Frozen Star” as a birthday present when I turned 15. Great book, very clearly explains white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, and, of course, black holes. I learned much from it, and I always have had a fondness for the term “frozen star” as opposed to “black hole” after reading the book.
It is a hole because stuff fall in it.
It is black because light does not get out of it.
Frozen star... Never heard that name used. Is the coldness of a black hole its defining feature tho? Or rather that its a one-way street for all matter it comes close to.
@@captain_context9991 If I recall the book correctly (I read it nearly 40 years ago) the term “frozen star” comes from the Russian name for black holes, which alludes to the fact that, from a distant outsider’s perspective, a star collapsing into a black hole would appear frozen in time at the moment of collapsing within the Schwarzschild radius.
@@jpe1 There is clearly no light, coming out of a black hole, that would reach the observer in a pattern which could be identified as a "frozen star".
@@jpe1
Oh so its the Russki version. I have actually been to the Russian space park in Moscow. Yuri Gagarin and all that. But I still never hard that word.
Thats image projection thing is more theoretical than reality. Becky here says black holes are a bit misleading because they are the the brightest objects out there.
But its the accretion disk thats bright. The process of absorbing a star. But the black hole itself is rather... Black.
The idea of things freezing in time, or projected on the black holes event horizon. Or surface, is that as things pass the event horizon, it will appear to have stopped to us from the outside. Like painting a picture on a balloon. But if you are close enough to experience that, then you have a long list of other issues to worry about.
I like the word "Gravity well" But also I think black hole is perfectly fine.
"I'd argue that no two words have caused more misconceptions and misunderstandings than 'black hole'. "
The 'Big Bang' would like to have a word with you😉
Anyways, loved the video as always! And congrats on the launch of your new book!
Well it did ended up with big being relevant. The Big Bang theory is still kinda iffy. It is too hard for us humans to grasp the idea of something not having a beginning.
@@ronpetersen2317 It's actually very not iffy, not nearly as iffy as your suggestion that things are allowed to just happen without beginning. We can't get our brains around that because we shouldn't. Causality is how our universe works, it's literally what allows things to even be understandable to us. If you allow for things to just happen or exist without explanation, explanation itself becomes a meaningless farce.
@@jyjjy7 If is still iffy just because we don't know what we don't know. In the grand scheme of things ... we are still just barely figuring things out. We are still working on understanding our own planet and the solar system let alone outside of it. on the grand timeline of it all we still just popped our heads up and peaked around what the universe mostly use to be like since we are looking back in time. In a thousand years or two more we will have a MUCH better understanding but will still have things to learn. Our own human egos can be our failing and frequently are.
@@ronpetersen2317 Just because we don't know what we don't know doesn't mean we don't know what we DO know and the big bang theory is pretty solid science... for those that actually understand the theory and the evidence for it. Others should take their word for it or start learning... and not via the latest distorted clickbait mainstream media science headlines.
@@jyjjy7 I am just saying we should be ok with having a theory be wrong or flawed. Some still argue if we will experience a big collapse and basically have another "big bang" or keep expanding and burn out. It's science ... not religion. Keep in mind all our observations and theories are all based from one point in the universe. We need to keep learning and moving forward but the human perspective is highly limited. It will change once we head out to other star systems.
I seem to recall "gravitar" (in the vein of pulsar and magnetar) being used briefly, although others have mentioned "collapsar" which is even better. BTW Crosby, Stills & Nash did a song called Dark Star that's pretty cool. Check it out.
Ahh I think you’re thinking of the ‘gravastar’, which is short for ‘gravitational vacuum star’. It was an alternative hypothesis for black holes, but doesn’t exclude the existence of black holes.
Just bought your book! Love your channel! Thanks for all the educational vids... it is a pleasure seeing our galaxy through your eyes/mind.
Hi Dr. Becky, great video! I have your book on order with Amazon, but being on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean I have to wait until November to get the book. I'm not sure I like "dark star" because wouldn't a black dwarf (final remnants of a white dwarf) also be a dark star? Black hole makes more sense in that the center is black because no light can escape (any light from a black hole is from the accretion disc around it), and a hole because anything that falls in can't get out.
EXACTLY! It BEHAVES like a ...black...hole. You can't see it because it doesn't emit/reflect light, and anything that falls into it is gone forever. Black Hole is a perfectly apt description of its apparent BEHAVIOR, NOT its physical attributes. Dr Becky is picking nits.
Thankyou for taking the first step toward fixing this. It's been a long time coming. This will hopefully put things in perspective for a lot of future space interested people.
Copy arrived Thursday - very sparkly, I'm impressed 😊 I'll attempt to read it over the weekend.
Thanks for putting in all that hard work!
I literally never buy nonfiction audiobooks. I just bought your book on audible. You do such a fantastic job explaining to us laypeople that I’m actually excited enough I want to stop listening to my current fantasy novel and learn something instead. I’m inspired by your passion, and deeply interested in how you’ll explain a subject matter that has always been very alluring for me, but generally so steeped in jargon that I never get far. Super stoked. I’m gunna finish my novel first, because I hate leaving a book in the middle, but just know that knowing your book is next is niggling at me and I can’t wait to start!
Loving the new book! Bought it as a present for my daughter but couldn't resist jumping in.
I JUST ordered your new book, Dr Becky! So excited to receive it already!
I have just downloaded my ecopy of your new book. Looking forward to starting it this evening wearing my Dr. Becky JWST shirt. Great video as usual.
Huh. I always figured they were called that, because when observing the universe there's the spots where no light comes from; they're holes in the picture you're seeing because there's nothing to see, and black, because that's what 'nothing to see' looks like. Sort of like the dark side of the moon isn't actually dark necessarily, it's just dark in the sense that we can't see it from earth.
Yeah, the objections here seem pretty petty and improperly dismissive. Until Hawking theorized his radiation the WERE thought to black and to the extent that they are not they are still blacker than the cosmic microwave background and will be so for many times the length of the age of the universe to come.
Her calling them the "brightest objects in the universe is actually flat out wrong. Quasars are, and the thing that distinguishes quasars from normal (super massive) black holes is the part that isn't the black hole itself.
Really though it's the objection to the term hole that is even worse. Considering our current understanding of what gravitational collapse does to space time, the word hole is actually surprisingly intuitively informative about what is going on for normal people. Suggesting that a black hole is effectively still a "star" in some way would be MUCH more confusing to the average person and offer no insight into what a black hole actually is, as opposed to an object they mostly understand, stars, which a black hole isn't in any meaningful or effective manner.
This whole basis of this video is confusingly dumb from someone who isn't such, really odd.
Congratulations on your book! Always been curious and fascinated by Astronomy and our universe. Hope to use some of your videos in my grade school class. Also want to show my students a successful, modern woman in STEM. Thanks again!
Just arrived today and looking forward to reading. Thank you for the larger size was a challenge reading your last book although, a good read. Keep up the great work:)
Started listening to your new book today, love it!
Light doesn't escape from their gravitational field, so it's a hole for light/matter and is black because no light escapes. "Dark star" would have it's own "problems". It's a pretty apt metaphorical name imo (without being a physicist), but this is an unusual thing to be upset at from my perspective having listened to your video.
Yeah, calling a star would be so much more of a misconception because black holes aren't things, they are regions in spacetime.
"Black hole" is a perfectly good name imo. Sure it's not technically black, neither is black paint but we still call that black. Sure it's technically not a hole, not a topological hole in the manifold we use to model space-time either. But it does act like a "hole". the general public's misunderstanding can't be blamed on the name alone, that's just silly
It might be a topological hole, as the space-time on the far side of the event horizon cannot (at this time) b experimented upon to discover its local proper metric. Inward (towards the center) should flip in dimension to forward in time, and outward (towards the event horizon) as backwards in time, and presumably the time dimension should flip to be a space dimension.
When I work the maths, it appears to me that the minimum dimension is not a singularity, but rather the event horizon itself. This appears to me to be a 3-dimensional manifold (2 space and one unspecified) in 4-space. Most of this was worked out before 1980, including fun rotational details.
If this model also describe our universe origin story, then hypothetically, an axis of rotation might exist. But those maths get beyond my poor powers to visualize.
The term dark star eas also used in the Star Trek episode Tomorrow is Yesterday.
The Enterprise's warp field started interacting with the dark star and the ship got tossed back in time. Dr. Becky I would love you to review that episode .
I was listening to this part of your book on the drive to work this morning!
But isn't the brightness associated with black holes coming from the disc of matter that surrounds them that gets heated up as well as jets that sometimes shoot out from the poles directions?
The event horizon itself is black because light can't leave that area once it's entered right?
So basically, it would still make it correct, other than it being a hole, wouldn't it?
That's correct. However, black holes still aren't _completely_ black - at least, probably not. Stephen Hawking showed that black holes should emit radiation as if they had a temperature (just like how warm objects emit infrared light). This radiation doesn't come from _inside_ the black hole, but rather from just outside the event horizon. As far as I know, we haven't observed Hawking radiation yet, since it's incredibly faint, but it's probably there.
@@kyzer422 nothing's completely black. Black holes are much more black than black paint but you call black paint black
@@Gremunky That is a good point.
@@kyzer422 so it's fair to say a black hole is still black in that it doesn't emit radiation as much as it causes the universe to create radiaton on its behalf
@@scottwatrous I suppose you could say that, yeah.
In an alternate universe, Becky is explaining why the standard term “dark star” is such a misnomer, opting instead for “time orb”.
Black Hole video? This is Dr. Becky’s most passionate subject. I’ve never got a bad video from you, they’re all great. But going into these assures me I’m gonna see that CCC (contagious cosmic curiosity) that you naturally give off with no effort needed :)
You’re a hidden gem on RUclips when it comes to cosmo related videos. I’m glad that you’ve gained so many subscribers since Ive been watching…but you deserve much more. I’m positive that ppl will see what you bring to table immediately and keep watching.
I just LOVE seeing you as shocked/curious/excited about our lovely universe as I am. Ppl around my area don’t look up much tbh :(
The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies! Congrats on the new book. Thanks as always, for sharing.
I have always liked the term "Collapsar", myself.
It is the most precise one.
Isn't "collapsar" a more general term meaning any star that has collapsed in on itself? Neutron stars, white dwarfs and black holes are all collapsars.
@@ImVeryOriginal You are right, the term includes both neutron stars and black holes. In my opinion a pity as it would be a great name for the latter.
I have nothing against the term "black hole", especially since "dark star" was already used to described a similar object under Newtonian mechanics way before Einstein (except it actually had a volume and surface).
@@ImVeryOriginal We will not change the terminology now (physicists do not like to do that even ef the historical terms lost their original meaning). But something with ending -ar fits the phenomenon as astrophysics has several similar ones (quasar, pulsar, magnetar).
Going through your new book now. Do I get a certificate of astrophysics when I'm done? 🙂
I just started downloading your book can’t wait to listen to it. Of course after I watch this video.
i learn something new every time i watch you, Dr B! thanks! can't wait to get my hands on this book. and, by the way, you could serenade me anytime! keep 'em coming, please!
I have this comeback I like to use sometimes.. They'll start off by saying, "Well..." And I'll jump in with, "That's a hole in the ground that often contains water." And often inescapable. Light can't escape a black hole. I think it's reasonable to think of a black hole at some point as a well within it's gravitational field. Instead of a hole in the ground, it's a hole in the observable fabric of space time. I'm OK with black hole.
Very interesting! It's funny how these commonly used terms can cause serious misunderstandings. In genetics we deal with similar issues around the terms Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam, where a lot of misinterpretation happens because of the assumptions people make based on the terms alone.
They didn't live at the same time, and Y-chromosome "Adam" was more likely Noah.
Noah and his mythical ark? lol
Go read the epic of Gilgamesh
@@NS-ie2ld The epic of Gilgamesh may well be a twisted retelling of Noah's flood.
@@NS-ie2ld Noah had three sons, each of whom had a wife. Assuming that he had no daughters but his sons did and the wives were unrelated, that's three different mitochondria and one different Y-chromosome they passed on.
What was Gilgamesh's family like?
Got a Kindle version of your book. Subscribed! Thank you
Love the charisma you bring to science
Aaaha ! It's in textbook of Preventive & Social Medicine too K.Park chapter of How to build better housing conditions under Environment & Health 🤔. Such a Random connection after years of reading Hawking in High School for Some Nerdy Physics Stuff 😀. Nice vid ❤️.
Perhaps the expression "disappeared into a black hole" (referring to something going missing without trace) may be another possible origin?
The question is which one came first, the scientific expression or the phrase in popular culture. If you look at the Google Books Ngram Viewer, which graphs the frequency with which words are used, you will see that the phrase "black hole" began to take off in 1968, well after its introduction. Since scientific books are vastly outnumbered by general-interest books, I would conclude from this graph that the popular usage followed and was inspired by the scientific usage by Robert Dicke in 1961 and later astronomers.
By the way, the graph in the Ngram viewer appears to indicate usage of the phrase "black hole" as far back as 1800. I assume that this is due to errors in the optical character recognition of old, scanned books.
got it on audible and have finished it yesterday. loved it!
Congratulations. Bought your book on audible ! Thanks for this valuable piece of historical information on the naming of black holes.
I was born and brought up in Calcutta (now Kolkata) but never heard of the "Black hole of Calcutta" 🤨 I guess I was never told about it because of its gruesome nature. If that is the source of the name of my favorite astronomical object then I would definitely agree to a name change 😊
Blackhole tragedy. ..read history of siraj uddoula
It was a hoax i read it in advance history classes that britishers invented this hoax. No governor at that time mentioned it in the letters exchanged betwwen English govt and their indian counterparts. Its called black hole tragedy in history.
Do you think it might have something to do with the Indian educational system trying to whitewash its own history now?
Wow, i'm an Italian living in England and even i, heard of the Black hole of Calcutta! And you, who are from there, haven't. Really odd. Lol..
Well, History is taught by the victors or so am I told. Getting hold of the actual reality is quite difficult. Either ways enough of history lesson for me while watching a Physics video. lol
Yes, I always preferred the old term "Dark Star."
That's also the title of a surprisingly good comedic philosophical sci-fi student film that John Carpenter made in the early 70s when he was still attending USC. The crew of a spaceship have to deal with their smart bomb having an existential crisis.
I can't believe no one used it as a rock band name!
I just think a star is something that shines and radiates outwards. Which is exactly what a black hole doesnt. I dont see anything particularly wrong with the word.
@@captain_context9991 Black holes aren't holes and they are the brightest objects in the universe. Granted, there is a more straightforward divide between star and black hole than, say, a star and a brown dwarf, planet or dwarf planet but in some respects they are just different amounts of the same thing. It does make sense to subdivide them by obvious phase transitions but there will always be quibbling over the boundaries and hierarchies. Are brown dwarfs planets, stars or something separate? Are neutron stars really just stars or is the inability to sustain atomic structures enough of a phase transition to classify them as somewhere between stars and black holes? You could quibble about such things forever but in the end you probably want categories and names that cause the least amount of confusion in students and "black hole" doesn't really do that very well.
@@protocol6 yes but changing black hole to dark Star doesn't solve it either so it's pretty pointless to do so
One of JC best movies in some ways. Special effects done on a shoestring, but reasonable.
Not much true science however, so no need for Dr B to do a review.
Congrats on the new book!
When I was little I always thought of blackholes being like giant space versions of the whirlpools you see in the bath when you take out the plug.
I'll vote in favor of black star. Also, my e-book copy of your Brief History of Black "Stars" duly showed up automatically in my Kindle library last night. It is now at the top of my very very long To Be Read list. I'm in the US and am really glad I don't have to wait for it to come out in hardback until November.
Seems weird. As far as I know, the internal structure doesn't resemble a star in any way. As soon as the matter collapses below the Schwarzschild radius the space-time continuum gets all twisted..
"They're they're not and not black holes"
Yeah, to people who never learned how to read properly.
I cannot wait to read your book Beckie. Please excuse any delay as I wait for the hard cover.
I will be ordering your new book Dr Becky! Cant wait to read it.
Personally, I like the idea of ‘paradox star’ - they emit essentially no light, but they are responsible for quasars, which are the brightest objects in the sky, and if you consider their ‘loss of mass’ in a black hole merger, without light they still convert amazing amounts of mass in a brief moment - yet they emit no light for that feat. Tie on the contradictions of what physics models say happens inside them…
Or just 'parastar' maybe?
I like the name paradox star ... Maybe rename Dark Matter and Dark Energy to Paradox Matter and Paradox energy as well to more accurately reflect what is (or isnt) known about them
But its not a paradox, its just an accretion disk that happens to be orbiting a black hole.
Accretion disks always emit EM as their orbits decay, even when orbiting small protostars.
They just emit a LOT more, when orbiting a suppermassive black hole.
I’ll be honest, I arrive at the name by looking at how I’d trollishly describe them to someone who didn’t know about them:
- They are the brightest things in the sky
- They emit no light
Properly, that’s a contradiction, not a paradox, but ‘rule of cool’ leads me to the cool name. 😄
@@Carnivorous-Vegan It's also not a star, structurally, so any name involving the term "star" would be misleading.
I've just finished reading 'George Lucas, A Life', and that has a hell of a lot of reference notes at the back, more than I've had in any other book so far. It was a chapter all by itself! But I think it's good to have links to references so people can check out the full detail of what you are referencing.
Continue to love your videos! Thank you soo much, you are part of the inspiration for me that I have just started my Masters in Physics and specialising in Astrophysics and Cosmology! 😃
Amazing to hear! All the best with your research
Congratulations on your new book!
I like Dark Star. It has the advantage of being more accurate, and it is as easy to say. Now, if we want to complicate how we say it for awesomeness, I really like Stellar Oubliette. It keeps the prison heritage, but is more precise. I'm afraid Black Hole is going to stick around as long as the black holes... Also, I just bought your book and am excited to get into it!
Plus, "Dark Star" is a classic 1970s sci-fi movie!
The thing is, a 'black hole' is not a star any more. I would suggest 'bottomless pit'. If they go to an infinitesimal point, the name is quite accurate.
@@theultimatereductionist7592 An oubliette was literally a
hole you would throw people into from which they would never be seen again or need to be thought of...
Black hole is actually a great name imo and much less confusing than dark star. More accurate as well as these objects obviously are not stars any more in any meaningful way so to call them such isn't just misleading, it is simply wrong. Black holes contain an expanding volume of spacetime and many theories argue they literally contain separate universes. They are fundamentally different objects than stars, we don't even know if the biggest one even were stars at ANY point, much less still things that it makes any sense to call one, especially given even if they were a star once, they have now absorbed many, many others.
Got the book today, started reading, and it's brilliant so far
Footnotes. You are the Terry Pratchett of science Communicators. I got my copy of your book today and am enjoying it immensely!
Man you're an inspiration. Love your work.
I think "big bang" is probably worse than "black hole" when it comes to misconceptions. Also "the god-particle" is pretty bad too or "the observer effect" (at least when it comes to quantum physics).
They're they're, not & not, black holes.
Yeah, to people who never learned how to read properly.
1:31 The rubber sheet illustration is also one of of the ‚havier‘ misconceptions in physics.
The bloopers are gold.
Begin to call it by its proper term please 🙏 "Nucleic spacetime"
Its proper term is "Black hole", lol, no matter how inaccurate it is. This is physics, not psychology
@@bigshrekhorner You might be missing a chromosome I think
Should they be called dark stars then.
No, that’s already a thing.
Thank you for this video! I really enjoy your content 😊
Will your book be translated in other languages as well?
thank you for your channel. i'll be looking out for your audiobook in my library's collection on libby. looking forward to hearing your narrate it.
I disagree with you @Dr. Breky. "Black Hole" is a perfect name for them: stuff goes in; does not come out! What could be a better summary of the most important feature of black holes? To communicate science one needs catchy phrases that grab the laypersons' imagination. "Dark Star" just doesn't (and as you point out didn't) grab said imagination. Because the first think I think of when I hear the term star is the light and warmth our own Sol irradiates - not something a Black Hole is famous for.
Granted that more education is required, but what area of knowledge is that not also true of? Yesterday you said how much you didn't enjoy the programming course of your under graduate studies; but now you love it. As a software developer I would argue everyone needs to be able to program - because if you don't control your environment then your environment controls you; and what technology is more a part of everyday life these days than the computer. You, yourself, bear testament to this when you stated that the reason you now like programming in Python is because it allows you to analyse the data you collect. If you were reliant on someone like me to provide that software you would only be able to do what I programmed the software to do!
So, please, get over the name "Black Hole" and just see it as reason to do more science communication.
Got my pre order in for the book! , cant wait to read it.
I received my copy of your book this afternoon.
Your vivacious energy for unknown physics is captivating.
If I was on the fence about buying your book before, your footnotes comment would have pushed me over the edge. My entire life I've realized that I think in parentheses and footnotes.
you should do a video on dead names of science, names for things that have since had updated designations. due to a greater understanding etc.
I really love the book. Well done, Becky!
Your graphic showing various levels of space time curvature reminded me of a well (which, to be fair, most people would describe as a hole)
I’m sure it’s already used as a description of something else, but how about “gravity well”…? That gets us away from the daft idea that anything might fall right through and out the other side.
My copy of the book arrived today!
After watching this, I immediately bought Dr. Becky's book on Audible. It is awesome! I'm also so, so very glad she narrated it herself.
Thanks Jason! Glad you enjoyed it
6:10 i cant believe you sat downand said “yup im posting this to youtube for thousands of people”
Thoroughly fascinating and enlightening to hear the term's carceral etymology!
Awesome! Ordered a copy 🙂 Thanks!!
Very interesting Dr. Becky! Why don't they just call them "Gravitationally Collapsed Stars"? 🤔🤔
Bought the new book! Congrats.
Dr Becky i bought your audio book just now so lets go time to start listening…
I finished the Prologue last night. Planning to read one chapter a week. I feel this is the book that I need to read slowly if I am to at least tyring to comprehen some of the ideas.
Darkstar is a Marvel character created in 1976, she can create dark energy solid constructs or dark matter (like Green Lantern but with black light) manipulate gravity and shoot concussive gravity waves of energy like Cyclops' solid light eyebeams, her power comes from a connection dark energy or what they call Dark Force in Marvel. Basically she has the powers of a black hole without having all the gravity or mass even spandex wouldn't help. The character Cloak of Cloak & Dagger can teleport himself or others enveloped by his cape into a black hole which is kinda like The Phantom Zone where DC villains like Zod are sent.
Congrats on the book Doc!! 🙌 How do I get a signed copy?
Hi Dr Becky, A perfect opportunity for you too educate everyone, and change this misconception.
I totally get where you're coming from and your reasons for disliking the term, but I love it. It's so evocative, not to mention concise. So my vote is: keep it!
As for footnotes: thank you for using footnotes and not endnotes! I hate hate hate having to flip back and forth to read endnotes. Thank you thank you!
Lastly: I didn't hear the motorbike while playing this through laptop speakers, so maybe it's not a big deal to just ignore it? Your mic does a great job of just picking up your voice.
Looking for ward to reading your book!
Ooooh, I just started listening to your book!!! :))))
Congradulations on your book Becky!
Book came thru the door today :) Thanks
Does the audiobook include the foot notes and if so are they in a separate section or included as the narration progresses? I want to get the audio because it’s the most effective way for me to get my work done while also reading/listening, but I don’t want to miss out on the all the details🤓❗️
So I bought your book and I’m loving it so far!!!! Wish you lived on our side of the world, so I could get it signed. From your Canadian fan❤
Thank you for giving me a clear understanding of black holes. As a lamen, I have been struggling with the idea for some time. However today I have a clear understanding of the structure.
Here is a possible solution for that name issue: Muse could change the name of one of their hit song or to do a new version. That new version could be named as "Supermassive Dark Star".
The effective use of snarky footnotes is what kept me going back for more Terry Pratchett.
lol, that sound of music refernce at the end made me smile:)
Hello Dr. Becky, just finished your book "A Brief History of Black Holes" by the way of reading into the early hours and via the Audio book whilst sitting in traffic to and from work. A must-read for anyone who looks up at the night sky and wonders what is out there.
Okay, a quick question, 'Black holes' when observed do 'Black holes' look the same from all directions?
you are so lovely thank you for teaching me a little bit of a huge subject