The ascent of gravity
Subtitle: the quest to understand the force that explains everything
By: Marcus Chown
Edition: First Pegasus Books hardcover edition.
Publisher: Norton & Company Limited, W. W.
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9781681775371
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Gravitation; Gravity
Description: Discusses the concept of gravity from its earliest recognition in 1666 to the discovery of gravitational waves in 2015, and explains why gravity holds the key to understanding the nature of time and the origin of the universe.

"Why the force that keeps our feet on the ground holds the key to understanding the nature of time and the origin of the universe. Gravity is the weakest force in the everyday world yet it is the strongest force in the universe. It was the first force to be recognized and described yet it is the least understood. It is a "force" that keeps your feet on the ground yet no such force actually exists. Gravity, to steal the words of Winston Churchill, is "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." And penetrating that enigma promises to answer the biggest questions in science: what is space? What is time? What is the universe? And where did it all come from? Award-winning writer Marcus Chown takes us on an unforgettable journey from the recognition of the "force" of gravity in 1666 to the discovery of gravitational waves in 2015. And, as we stand on the brink of a seismic revolution in our worldview, he brings us up to speed on the greatest challenge ever to confront physics."--Dust jacket flap.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-255) and index.
Table of contents: title: Foreword: Six things you may not know about gravity; title: Part one: Newton. The Moon is falling ; The last of the magicians ; Beware the tides of March ; Map of the invisible world; title: Part two: Einstein. Catch me if you can ; Ode to a falling man ; Where God divided by zero; title: Part three: Beyond Einstein. A quantum of space-time ; The undiscovered country.