num_pages: 304
description: How did one elegant theory incite a scientific revolution? Physicists have been exploring debating and questioning the general theory of relativity ever since Albert Einstein first presented it in 1915. Their work has uncovered a number of the universes more surprising secrets and many believe further wonders remain hidden within the theorys tangle of equations waiting to be exposed. In this sweeping narrative of science and culture astrophysicist Pedro Ferreira brings general relativity to life through the story of the brilliant physicists mathematicians and astronomers who have taken up its challenge. For these scientists the theory has been both a treasure trove and an enigma fueling a century of intellectual struggle and triumph.. Einsteins theory which explains the relationships among gravity space and time is possibly the most perfect intellectual achievement of modern physics yet studying it has always been a controversial endeavor. Relativists were the target of persecution in Hitlers Germany hounded in Stalins Russia and disdained in 1950s America. Even today PhD students are warned that specializing in general relativity will make them unemployable. Despite these pitfalls general relativity has flourished delivering key insights into our understanding of the origin of time and the evolution of all the stars and galaxies in the cosmos. Its adherents have revealed what lies at the farthest reaches of the universe shed light on the smallest scales of existence and explained how the fabric of reality emerges. Dark matter dark energy black holes and string theory are all progeny of Einsteins theory. We are in the midst of a momentous transformation in modern physics. As scientists look farther and more clearly into space than ever before The Perfect Theory reveals the greater relevance of general relativity showing us where it started where it has led and where it can still take us.
language: English
title: The Perfect Theory: A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity
publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt