Black hole Quote by Henning Genz

““We don't really know whether there are black holes that emit observable amounts of Hawking radiation. Nevertheless, there is no way to overestimate the importance of Hawking's discovery; it not only showed that the physical principles of the general theory of relativity, of thermodynamics, and of quantum mechanics are mutually consistent; it also proved them to be interdependent. If we leave quantum mechanics out of the game, thermodynamics and the general theory of relativity, are mutually inconsistent. Hawking restored our confidence that we can apply the principles of the two signal theories of our century-the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics-simultaneously and without creating contradictions. We have no overall theory that unifies them-or, put differently, all the above remains somewhat conjectural. But let's remember that we cannot develop a true understanding of the early universe without a quantum theory of gravity. It was small enough so that quantum mechanics had to apply, and it was massive enough so that its ultimate matter density mandated the action of gravitational forces between its constituents.””

— Henning Genz