Gravity: A Very Short Introduction

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Gravity is one of the four fundamental interactions that exist in nature It also has the distinction of being the oldest weakest & most difficult force to quantize Understanding gravity is not only essential for understanding the motion of objects on Earth but also the motion of all celestial objects & even the expansion of the Universe itself It was the study of gravity that led Einstein to his profound realisations about the nature of space & time Gravity is not only universal it is also essential for understanding the behaviour of the Universe & all astrophysical bodies within it In this Very Short Introduction Timothy Clifton looks at the development of our understanding of gravity since the early observations of Kepler & Newtonian theory He discusses Einstein's theory of gravity which now supplants Newton's showing how it allows us to understand why the frequency of light changes as it passes through a gravitational field why GPS satellites need their clocks corrected as they orbit the Earth & why the orbits of distant neutron stars speed up Today almost 100 years after Einstein published his theory of gravity we have even detected the waves of gravitational radiation that he predicted Clifton concludes by considering the testing & application of general relativity in astrophysics & cosmology & looks at dark energy & efforts such as string theory to combine gravity with quantum mechanics ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable