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

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"If I were banished to the dark side of the moon and could take only one book with me for company, The Book of Black would be my choice. Science, art, history, culture -- all in one. Buy this book and feed the echoing spirits in the dark recesses of the soul."
~Letitia Potorac

The Book of Black

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

Clifford A. Pickover

Praise for Pickover

"Pickover contemplates realms beyond our known reality."
-- The New York Times
"Pickover inspires a new generation of da Vincis to build unknown flying machines and create new Mona Lisas."
-- Christian Science Monitor

100 of the most intriguing milestones in the story of black, including:

Black Diamonds (c. 3 billion B.C.) * Black Hills (c. 1.8 billion B.C.) * Black Slug (c. 300 million B.C.) * Black Widow Spider (c. 250 million B.C.) * Black Mamba (c. 150 million B.C.) * Black Iris (c. 125 million B.C.) * Black Seadevil (c. 50 million B.C.) * Black Ghost Knifefish (c. 10 million years B.C.) * Black Sea (c. 6 million B.C.)* Black Magic (c. 80,000 B.C.) * Black Mass (c. 100) * Dark Ages (476 - 1000) Black Stone (602) * Black Madonna (c. 1000) * Black Cat Fear (c. 1200) * Black Death (c. 1340) * Blackbird Pie (1549) * Blackmail (1601) * Black Nazarene (1606) * Blackbeard (c. 1680) * Blackjack (c. 1750) * Black Hole of Calcutta (1756) * Black Holes (1783) * Byron's "Darkness" (1816) * Goya's Black Paintings (1819) * Coal Black Rose (1829) * Black Angus (1842) * Black Ice (1850) * "Black is Beautiful" (1858) * Black Beauty (1877) * Little Black Sambo (1899) * Blackbody Radiation Law (1900) Black Dragon Society (1901) Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1902) Black Light (1903) Shooting of the Last Black Mamo (1907) Black Hand of Serbia (1911) Black Forest Cake (1915) Blackshirts (1919) The Black Chamber (1919) Black Sox Scandal (1919) Black Market (1920) Black Tuesday (1929) Dark Matter (1933) * Black Velvet Paintings (1933) * Black Mold (1937) * The Black Sun (c. 1940) * Black Dahlia (1947) * Blacklist (1947) * Men in Black Conspiracy (1953) * Black Lightning (1956) * Hoyle's Black Cloud (1957) * Dark Side of the Moon (1959) * Dark Shadows (1966) * "Paint it, Black" (1966) * "Black Magic Woman" (1968) * Black Sabbath (1969) * The Dark Side (1977) * Black Black (1983) * Dark Tourism (1996) * Black Triangles (c. 1997) * Dark Energy (1998) * Dark City (1998) * Darknets (2002) * Black Swan Theory (2007) * Blackest Black (2008) * Universe Fades to Black (100 trillion years AD) * And many more

Sampling of Images from Book

Explore the colorful mysteries of black as the adventure unfolds over 1000s of years.

Black Sabbath	Black Cat	Black Crown	Dark Ages	Dark Side Moon
Black Hand	Black Hole	Black Magic Woman	Black Mamba	Greek Dark Ages
Byron's Darkness	Black Sambo	Black Slug	Black Sox	Black Widow

"Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both." -- WIRED

"A perpetual idea machine, Clifford Pickover is one of the most creative, original thinkers in the world today." -- Journal of Recreational Mathematics

Cool Book Reviews!

Mystery woman
holds The Book of Black,
minutes before casting a spell
on all who open its pages.

Book of Black Song
At YouTube

"Black Magic Woman"
At YouTube

From the Black Hole of Calcutta and the Dark Side of the Moon to Black Bart, Black Beauty, 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 -- The Book of Black 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.

Join prolific polymath Clifford Pickover as he explores 100 of the most intriguing milestones in the story of black, from 3 billion B.C. and into the far future. Welcome to The Book of Black, in which we shed light into the darkness. In what other book can you find a discussion on the hit rock-and-roll song "Black Magic Woman" alongside an entry on mysterious Dark Energy, which may one day tear apart galaxies and end the universe in a terrible cosmic rip? Few books attempt to explain the Blackbody Radiation Law, which started the science of quantum mechanics, only a page after an entry on Little Black Sambo, an adventurous boy who outwits hungry tigers in a beloved but controversial 1899 children's book.

Chronologically organized, each entry consists of a short summary and one or more stunning full-color images, while the "Notes and Further Reading" section provides resources for more in-depth study. The Book of Black provides a relentless smorgasbord, a hyperpizza with hundreds of different toppings. On our journey, we'll encounter some of the quirkiest and profoundest topics under the sun. Did I say "sun"? To get in the mood, I suggest you read this book at twilight, as darkness descends. Osho writes in Intimacy, "Clarity gives shallowness to things; vagueness gives depth and mystery. Light can never be so mysterious as darkness. Light is prose; darkness is poetry."

Clifford A. Pickover is a prolific author, having published more than forty books, translated into over a dozen languages, on topics ranging from science and mathematics to religion, art, and history. He received his PhD from Yale University's Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, holds over 100 U.S. patents, and is an associate editor for several scientific journals. His research has received considerable attention from media outlets ranging from CNN and WIRED to The New York Times, and his website, www.pickover.com, has received millions of visits.

Pickover has been elected a Fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry for his "significant contributions to the general public's understanding of science, reason, and critical inquiry through scholarship, writing, and work in the media." Other Fellows have included Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov.

Follow Dr. Cliff Pickover on Twitter. Return to Pickover's main web page. Information on Pickover's other books.

Book of Black
Table of Contents

Black Diamonds (c. 3 billion B.C.)
Black Hills (c. 1.8 billion B.C.)
Black Slug (c. 300 million B.C.)
Black Widow Spider (c. 250 million B.C.)
Black Fly (c. 200 million B.C.)
Black Swallowtail (c. 150 million B.C.)
Black Mamba (c. 150 million B.C.)
Black Iris (c. 125 million B.C.)
Black Seadevil (c. 50 million B.C.)
Black Ghost Knifefish (c. 10 million years B.C.)
Black Sea (c. 6 million B.C.)
Black Tusk (c. 1.2 million years B.C.)
Black Magic (c. 80,000 B.C.)
Black Pepper (1213 B.C.)
Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100 BC - 750 B.C.)
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (c. 841 B.C.)
Black Pudding (c. 700 B.C.)
Outer Darkness (c. 80)
Black Mass (c. 100)
Dark Ages (476 - 1000)
Black Stone (602)
Black Madonna (c. 1000)
Black Cat Fear (c. 1200)
Black Prince (1330)
Black Crown (1339)
Black Death (c. 1340)
Blackbird Pie (1549)
Blackmail (1601)
Black Nazarene (1606)
Blackbeard (c. 1680)
The Black Guard (1690)
Black Act (1723)
Black Pullet (1740)
Blackjack (c. 1750)
Black Hole of Calcutta (1756)
Black Drop Effect (1761)
Black Eye Galaxy Discovery (1779)
Black Holes (1783)
Byron's "Darkness" (1816)
Goya's Black Paintings (1819)
Black War (1828)
Coal Black Rose (1829)
Blackface (c. 1830)
Black Angus (1842)
Black Ice (1850)
Browning's Dark Tower (1855)
"Black is Beautiful" (1858)
Death by Blackdamp (1862)
Black Hawk War (1865)
Black Codes (1865)
Black Bart (1875)
Black Museum (1875)
Black Beauty (1877)
Little Black Sambo (1899)
Blackbody Radiation Law (1900)
Black Dragon Society (1901)
Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1902)
Black Light (1903)
Shooting of the Last Black Mamo (1907)
Black Hand of Serbia (1911)
Black Forest Cake (1915)
Blackshirts (1919)
The Black Chamber (1919)
Black Sox Scandal (1919)
Black Market (1920)
Black Tuesday (1929)
"The Whisperer in the Darkness" (1931)
Dark Matter (1933)
Black Velvet Paintings (1933)
Black Mold (1937)
The Black Sun (c. 1940)
Black Dahlia (1947)
Blacklist (1947)
Men in Black Conspiracy (1953)
Reinhardt's Black Paintings (1953)
Black Lightning (1956)
Hoyle's Black Cloud (1957)
Dark Side of the Moon (1959)
"Baby's in Black" (1964)
Dark Shadows (1966)
"Paint it, Black" (1966)
"Black Magic Woman" (1968)
Black Sabbath (1969)
Black Volga Legend (c. 1970)
Black Lion Tamarin Discovered (1971)
Black Smoker Discovery (1977)
The Dark Side (1977)
Black Black (1983)
Black Hole Antiterrorism (c. 1987)
Dark Tourism (1996)
Black Triangles (c. 1997)
Dark Energy (1998)
Dark City (1998)
Darknets (2002)
Blackout (2003)
Black Admiral Restoration (2006)
Black Swan Theory (2007)
Blackest Black (2008)
Lonely Black Sky (100 billion years AD)
Universe Fades to Black (100 trillion years AD)

For the Joy of Learning
Other Illustrated Books by Pickover

"My primary interest is finding new ways to continually expand creativity by melding art, science, mathematics and other seemingly disparate areas of human endeavor.
I seek not only to expand the mind, but to shatter it."

"Paint it Black" at YouTube

Return to Cliff Pickover's main web page.
Information on Cliff's other books is here.