The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo) has cost more than $1bn (£800m) and drawn on the combined brain-power of some 800 scientists from around the world. The US-based project has taken decades: entire careers have been spent refining theories and testing technology that uses the sound of gravitational waves to measure “a change in distance comparable to less than a human hair relative to 100 billion times the circumference of the world”. Levin is part of this astonishing project and her book charts the quest for the waves from their first description in 1915 by Albert Einstein to their successful detection in 2015 when Ligo recorded the collision of two black holes 1.4bn light years away. It was, says Levin, “the most powerful single event we have ever detected since the big bang”, generating more than a trillion times the power of a billion suns, sending waves in the shape of space-time washing over the Earth. Levin brilliantly captures the immense challenges of today’s big science, from the clash of huge egos to the final triumphant proof of a century-old theory.
• Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space is published by Vintage. To order a copy for £8.49 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
