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About this book
Describes gravitation as seen by examining the achievements of those great scientists who have struggled with the seemingly simple facts and managed to extract some truth about the nature of gravity, its origins, and its effects. Gravity is intimately tied up with motion, and therefore with time and space, and is responsible for planetary systems, the evolution of stars and the existence of black holes and the very beginning of the Universe. It is the universal force and to look at gravity is to look at the deepest aspects of nature.
The historical context from Aristotle's teleology through Galileo's conflict with the Church, to Newton's law, and Einstein's curved space, displays the evolution of the science of gravity as one of the greatest and most fascinating human achievements.
Contents
1. The Seeker; 2. The Giants; 3. The First Modern Giant; 4. The Grid; 5. The Universal Force; 6. The Laws; 7. The System of the World; 8. Force and Mass; 9. Two More Giants; 10. Ether; 11. The Genius; 12. Time and Space; 13. It Really is True; 14. The Space-Time Continuum; 15. Time Warps and Bent Space; 16. It Stands Alone; 17. This too, is True; 18. Crunch; 19. Beyond Existence; 20. Absolute Space?; 21. Infinity; 22. How Weird can it Get?; 23. Scientific Truth; 24. The Meaning of Why; 25. Final Comments
Customer Reviews
By: Louis A Girifalco
297 pages, no illustrations
Girfalco's passionate book is a good introduction to the ancient history of cosmology, the personalities involved, and the experimental method. Gordon Fraser-author of "Cosmic Anger: Abdus Salam, the first Muslim Nobel Scientist" The 'Universal Force' by Louis Girifalco is an excellent introduction to the fundamental concepts underlying our modern theory of gravity that contains some engagingly written descriptions of the work of the people who contributed to its development...A very impressive and enjoyable book. 'The biographies are interesting and very readable...' Astronomy Now, January 2008, David Storey.