Examines such phenomena as black holes, wormholes, singularities, gravitational waves, and time machines, exploring the fundamental principles that control the universe. Winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Ever since Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity burst upon the world in 1915 some of the most brilliant minds of our century have sought to decipher the mysteries bequeathed by that theory, a legacy so unthinkable in some respects that even Einstein himself rejected them. Foreword 11(2) Stephen Hawking Introduction 13(4) Frederick Seitz Preface 17(6) Prologue: A Voyage among the Holes 23(36) The Relativity of Space and Time 59(28) The Warping of Space and Time 87(34) Black Holes Discovered and Rejected 121(19) The Mystery of the White Dwarfs 140(24) Implosion Is Compulsory 164(45) Implosion to What? 209(49) The Golden Age 258(42) The Search 300(22) Serendipity 322(35) Ripples of Curvature 357(40) What Is Reality? 397(15) Black Holes Evaporate 412(37) Inside Black Holes 449(34) Wormholes and Time Machines 483(40) Epilogue 523(6) Acknowledgments 529(2) Characters 531(6) Chronology 537(10) Glossary 547(14) Notes 561(24) Bibliography 585(16) People Index 601(12) Subject Index 613