The Book of Black: Black Holes, Black Death, Black Forest Cake and Other Dark Sides of Life

"A really fun grab-bag of fascinating black facts related to science, pop-culture, sports, animals, religion, history, and so much more." — "Clever compendium of dark things include interesting scientific explanations." — From the Black Hole of Calcutta and the Dark Side of the Moon to Black Bart, and Black Sabbath, this unique journey into darkness sheds light on the worlds of science, history, art, and philosophy. Bestselling author Clifford A. Pickover takes us on an unusual and historic journey through curious, amusing, and important topics related to "black." Beware: this wondrous panoply of subjects, stunning images, and entertaining and informative text can shift from sexy to cosmic with just the turn of a page! With entries short enough to read in just a few minutes — but pithy enough for endless pondering — features 100 captivating black-and-white and full-color images. The book roams far and wide through politics, popular culture, science, sociology, history, sports, religion, and superstition. A reference section offers suggestions for further explorations of Black Pudding, Black Velvet Paintings, Blackbeard, "Black Magic Woman," and other dark matters. "This book is a delight from start to finish. Entertaining and accessible, but equally rigorous and scholarly, this is a volume to please everyone. It can be read cover-to-cover or picked up and read at random. The illustrations are impressive and there's one for every topic. Thoroughly enjoyable but also thoroughly informative." — newbooks magazine