Facing Infinity

Black Holes and Our Place on Earth

26 September 2025

Territory Rights — Worldwide including Canada, but excluding the extended British Commonwealth and extended Europe

Jonas Enander (Author), Nichola Smalley (Translator)

With a Foreword by Frank Wilczek

Description

A fresh, fascinating, up-to-the-moment appraisal of black holes—the massive astronomical objects with a gravitational pull so strong nothing can escape them, not even light—that situates them at the center of our understanding of our place on Earth and of the universe

Humanity’s relationship with black holes began in 1783 in a small English village, when clergyman John Michell posed a startling question: What if there are objects in space that are so large and heavy that not even light can escape them? Almost 250 years later, in April 2019, scientists presented the first picture of a black hole. Profoundly inspired by that image, physicist Jonas Enander has traveled the world to investigate how our understanding of these elusive celestial objects has evolved since the days of Michell. 

With the particular goal of discovering our human connection to black holes, Enander visits telescopes and observatories, delves deeply into archives, and interviews over 20 world-leading experts, including several Nobel laureates. With Facing Infinity, he takes us on a spellbinding journey into the universe’s greatest mystery, deciphers the most mind-bending science, and answers questions surrounding how black holes work, where they come from, and what role they play in the universe. 

Along the way Enander discovers how our desire to understand black holes inadvertently paved the way for the invention of Wi-Fi and the calibration of our global navigation satellites, how astronomical discovery became entangled with colonial conflicts, and how our looking outward gave us critical evidence of the impact of climate change. Facing Infinity helps us appreciate and understand as never before these mysterious celestial objects and our surprising connections to them.

Reviews

" Facing Infinity is an especially attractive introduction to a wonderfully attractive subject. " — from the foreword by Frank Wilczek, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of Fundamentals and A Beautiful Question

"A thorough book, grand and inclusive but never intimidating. Indeed, Enander’s writing is so accessible that, at times, he seems like a travel writer who just so happens to speak the local language." — Forbes

" Weaves a captivating account of the most extraordinary objects in the universe: black holes. A superior account." — Marcus Chown, author of A Crack in Everything

"In this unusual and moving history of black holes, Jonas Enander reveals how human beings relate—personally and culturally—to the most extreme objects in the cosmos. Facing Infinity is a tribute to the human motivations and experiences that drive scientific discovery." — Patchen Barss, author of The Impossible Man

"Praise for the Swedish Edition

"Without assuming any prior knowledge on the subject, the book provides an in-depth and completely up-to-date picture of the black hole phenomenon and the main protagonists in the growth of knowledge. Enander describes even complicated phenomena in an easy-to-understand, clear and lively manner, and spices it up with thought-provoking, personal reflections and tantalizing details, making the reading accessible, fun and exciting." — Ola Svärd, BTJ

"An A in physics is not required to understand Facing Infinity. It is as much a portrayal of the people behind the discoveries." — Vi

"This is a marvelous popular science book, where the author seamlessly weaves together the black holes with the people behind the research, and also with humanity at large. It’s clear that Jonas Enander knows the physics he’s writing about, and that he can explain it to anyone interested in learning more." — Katrin Ros, Populär Astronomi

"I am sucked in and turn the pages hungrily, noting fine analogies made in an almost poetic prose. Jonas Enander is obviously a skilled science communicator." — Katarina O’Nils Franke, Axess

"[Mörkret & människan] is written as a reportage about the scientists who observe black holes, and it explains what they know about these strange celestial bodies in an initiated and nuanced way." — Julia Ravanis, SvD

Hardback

9798893030853

147 x 218 mm • 368 pages

£23.00

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