It is late December and snow is swirling as Andrew Hamilton coasts up to his office at the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus, in the foothills of the Rockies. On a blustery day like today, most of his colleagues arrive in SUVs or at least in cars shod with all-season tires. Hamilton rides in on his Cannondale mountain bike.
Following his own path is not just a pastime to Hamilton, it is the essence of his career. For 15 years the astrophysicist has ventured nearly alone into the darkest, most impenetrable part of the universe: the inside of a black hole. “I’m not religious, but I share with religious people a desire to understand the truth about our universe. I’m focused on attaining a complete understanding of the interior of black holes,” he says, his British accent adding solemnity and power to his words. That quest has been called mad ...
