Kirkus Reviews
Last Updated on June 7, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 152
Though the subject is mind-boggling and still vastly unsettled, [in Black Holes, White Dwarfs, and Superstars] Branley comes through once again and gives us a splendidly clear, totally non-mathematical presentation of what is currently known about the life cycles of stars…. Whether the question is how we know T Tauri [stars] are young; why stars move as they do and some of the older ones pulsate; what makes novas explode; or how, in "neutron stars" and then black holes, atoms themselves can collapse until volume becomes zero and density reaches infinity—Branley is always on hand to explain the process of discovery, review rival theories, or, in the end, admit that neither "ordinary laws of science" nor "the special ones discovered by Einstein" seem to apply. Fuel for cosmic thoughts.
"Young Adult Non-Fiction: 'Black Holes, White Dwarfs, and Superstars'," in Kirkus Reviews (copyright © 1976 The Kirkus Service, Inc.), Vol. XLIV, No. 19, October 1, 1976, p. 1104.
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