While you are at Penn State, I want to be able to introduce some of the most exciting aspects of black-hole research to you. To allow this, you will need to have a basic understanding of modern ideas about space, time, and gravity upon arrival at Penn State; these are the fundamental groundwork upon which black-hole studies are built. It will not be possible to review all of these modern ideas while you are at Penn State since this would take much of the course, leaving too little time for discussions of black holes themselves.

The assigned reading below is designed to give you the necessary basic understanding, so that you will get the most out of the course. There is about 200 pages of reading, and the reading is challenging in a few places. Thus, please pace yourself so that you will have the needed time to think about the reading properly. Also, DON’T worry or get “hung up” if you don’t understand all the technical points precisely – some of these can be complex and involved (especially in the Thorne book). The goal is to get the main overall ideas, and if you do this then you should be fine for the course. So don’t panic!

In the book “Gravity’s Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the Universe” by M.C. Begelman and M.J. Rees you should read:

• Preface
• Chapter 1 – Gravity Triumphant
• Chapter 2 – Stars and Their Fates

In the book “Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy” by K.S. Thorne you should read:

• Foreword, Introduction, Preface, Prologue
• Chapter 1 – The Relativity of Space and Time
• Chapter 2 – The Warping of Space and Time
• Chapter 3 – Black Holes Discovered and Rejected
• Chapter 4 – The Mystery of the White Dwarfs