It is a memoir that depicts the history of human civilization hundreds of years into the future. In the next hundreds of chapters, Orion guides humanity towards the stars.
How would you feel if someone said to you that our earth, our solar system, our galaxy, our universe is in a black hole? Would it feel like nonsense? No, don't be in a hurry to dismiss it yet. Because there is a very scientific calculation that can change your view.
The total mass of the universe is roughly estimated to be 1.45*10^53kg, note that this figure is a rough estimate, and the actual mass is likely to be greater than this. And the formula for the Schwarzschild radius of an object is Rs = 2GM/Vc^2. In this, G is the universal gravitational constant, M is the mass of the object, and Vc is the speed of light. The gravitational constant, G, is then equal to 6.67*10^-11. The speed of light is roughly 3*10^8 metres per second.
Thus, Rs = 2.15*10^26 metres. It's roughly considered 2.27*10^10 light years. That means that the Schwarzschild radius of the universe is 22.7 billion light years, which is very close to the radius of the universe, 46 billion light years, on a cosmic scale.
The radius of the Earth is about 6,371,393 metres, which is much larger than the Earth's Schwarzschild radius - 8.8 mm, according to Wikipedia. What does it mean that the Earth's radius is less than the Schwarzschild radius, which would turn the Earth into a black hole, and thinking about that the radius of the universe is so close to the Schwarzschild radius of the universe? What if the real mass of the universe was even larger?
Does it mean that ...... our universe is also a black hole? Could it be that all of us, our universe, is inside a giant black hole? So, what could be beyond this black hole? Is it true that every black hole in our universe contains a whole new universe that is very different from ours?
No one can answer.
Desperation, ideals, greed, and hope - they all have a role to play in tearing the galaxy apart.
The human race finds itself at the precipice; a mysterious, monstrous force threatens everything in the cosmos, and all the while, the unity of humanity's Empire threatens to shatter just when it is needed most.
Never before has extinction been so tangible a possibility, and never before has exceptional courage, intellect, and luck been more needed.
This is a story about more than just people, their ambitions, and their conflicts: it is a story about crisis, set in a universe where survival, for any side, and for anyone, may be impossible.
It remains to be seen if the popular patriotic saying, "Humanity endures," will remain true - even for a week.
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If you wish you purchase a paperback version of this novel, you can do so on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Humanity-Endures-Evan-Peter-Armstrong/dp/B08P8QK86H.
You can also buy the ebook here, if you feel like supporting me or just want different file formats: leanpub.com/humanityendures
If you find a mistake while reading my book, or otherwise wish to communicate with me, feel free to message me.
(or if you want to be serious and official, use my email, evanpeterarmstrong@gmail.com).
Cover image credit: ESO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Kornmesser/R. Hurt (License: CC BY 4.0) Alterations have been made. Link to image: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1339a/
And a final notice to all of my illustrious readers: while this book is complete, I cannot be certain that I've found EVERY mistake: if any of you find errors that somehow escaped me, please let me know so that I can correct them.