Cowen, Ron (Author)
A sweeping account of the century of experimentation that confirmed Einstein’s general theory of relativity, bringing to life the science and scientists at the origins of relativity, the development of radio telescopes, the discovery of black holes and quasars, and the still unresolved place of gravity in quantum theory. Albert Einstein did nothing of note on May 29, 1919, yet that is when he became immortal. On that day, astronomer Arthur Eddington and his team observed a solar eclipse and found something extraordinary: gravity bends light, just as Einstein predicted. The finding confirmed the theory of general relativity, fundamentally changing our understanding of space and time. A century later, another group of astronomers is performing a similar experiment on a much larger scale. The Event Horizon Telescope, a globe-spanning array of radio dishes, is examining space surrounding Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. As Ron Cowen recounts, the foremost goal of the experiment is to determine whether Einstein was right on the details. Gravity lies at the heart of what we don’t know about quantum mechanics, but tantalizing possibilities for deeper insight are offered by black holes. By observing starlight wrapping around Sagittarius A*, the telescope will not only provide the first direct view of an event horizon―a black hole’s point of no return―but will also enable scientists to test Einstein’s theory under the most extreme conditions.Gravity’s Century shows how we got from the pivotal observations of the 1919 eclipse to the Event Horizon Telescope, and what is at stake today. Breaking down the physics in clear and approachable language, Cowen makes vivid how the quest to understand gravity is really the quest to comprehend the universe.
...MoreReview Earl Patrick Bellinger (2020) Review of "Gravity’s Century: From Einstein’s Eclipse to Images of Black Holes". Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 63-66).
Book
Melia, Fulvio;
(2009)
Cracking the Einstein Code: Relativity and the Birth of Black Hole Physics
(/isis/citation/CBB001020068/)
Article
Torretti, Roberto;
(2000)
Gravity as spacetime curvature
(/isis/citation/CBB000110494/)
Book
Collins, Harry;
(2013)
Gravity's Ghost and Big Dog: Scientific Discovery and Social Analysis in the Twenty-First Century
(/isis/citation/CBB001213158/)
Article
Rowe, David E.;
(2001)
Einstein Meets Hilbert: At the Crossroads of Physics and Mathematics
(/isis/citation/CBB000102532/)
Article
Tilman Sauer;
(2021)
Soldner, Einstein, Gravitational Light Deflection and Factors of Two
(/isis/citation/CBB321888925/)
Book
Nuno Crato;
Luís Tirapicos;
(2019)
O Eclipse de Einstein – Entre Lisboa, Londres, Sobral e o Príncipe/Einstein's Eclipse / From Lisbon and London to Sobral and the Island of Príncipe
(/isis/citation/CBB964326453/)
Article
Sauer, Tilman;
(2008)
Nova Geminorum 1912 and the Origin of the Idea of Gravitational Lensing
(/isis/citation/CBB000773886/)
Article
Halpern, Paul;
(2007)
Klein, Einstein, and Five-Dimensional Unification
(/isis/citation/CBB000850201/)
Article
Pound, Robert V.;
(2000)
Weighing Photons, I
(/isis/citation/CBB000110128/)
Book
Nuno Crato;
Luís Tirapicos;
(2019)
O Eclipse de Einstein: Entre Lisboa, Londres, Sobral e o Príncipe
(/isis/citation/CBB045967976/)
Book
Eisenstaedt, Jean;
(2006)
The Curious History of Relativity: How Einstein's Theory of Gravity Was Lost and Found Again
(/isis/citation/CBB000741825/)
Article
Giulio Peruzzi;
Alessio Rocci;
(2019)
Quantum Cultures during the Prehistory of Quantum Gravity: Léon Rosenfeld's Early Contributions to Quantum Gravity
(/isis/citation/CBB959398801/)
Article
Keith John Treschman;
(2015)
General Relativity in Australian Newspapers: The 1919 and 1922 Solar Eclipse Expeditions
(/isis/citation/CBB404526459/)
Chapter
Capria, Marco Mamone;
(2005)
General Relativity: Gravitation as Geometry and the Machian Programme
(/isis/citation/CBB000651176/)
Thesis
Almassi, Benjamin S.P.;
(2009)
Expert Testimony and the Social Transmission of Scientific Knowledge
(/isis/citation/CBB001560637/)
Book
Bartusiak, Marcia;
(2000)
Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: Listening to the Sounds of Space-Time
(/isis/citation/CBB000330751/)
Article
Afriat, Alexander;
Caccese, Ermenegildo;
(2010)
The Relativity of Inertia and Reality of Nothing
(/isis/citation/CBB001024197/)
Book
Kox, Anne J.;
Eisenstaedt, Jean;
(2005)
The Universe of General Relativity
(/isis/citation/CBB001211977/)
Article
Liu, Hua-qiu;
Guo, Jin-bin;
(2005)
Einstein and mathematics
(/isis/citation/CBB000650780/)
Article
Siegmund-Schultze, Reinhard;
(2007)
Einsteins Nachruf auf Emmy Noether in der New York Times, 1935
(/isis/citation/CBB001036207/)
Be the first to comment!