Facing Infinity

“ 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“ 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

Jonas Enander, PhD, is a science writer and communicator with a background in cosmology and astrophysics. His previous research focused on dark matter and Einstein’s theory of general relativity. He has worked as a physics teacher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and as a science communicator at the Oskar Klein Centre, also in Stockholm, and participated in the construction of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. He hosts the podcasts Spacetime Fika (in English) and Rumtiden (in Swedish).

Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a graduate student. He was among the earliest MacArthur fellows, and has won many awards both for his scientific work and his writing. He is the author of A Beautiful Question, The Lightness of Being, Fantastic Realities, Longing for the Harmonies, Fundamentals, and hundreds of articles in leading scientific journals. His “Wilczek’s Universe” column appears regularly in The Wall Street Journal. Wilczek is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founding director of the T. D. Lee Institute and chief scientist at the Wilczek Quantum Center in Shanghai, China, and a distinguished professor at Arizona State University and Stockholm University.