The Grip of Gravity Hardback: The Quest to Understand the Laws of Motion and Gravitation - Hardcover

Gondhalekar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521803160 ISBN 13: 9780521803168

Verlag: Cambridge University Press, 2001

Inhaltsangabe

This story of how we have arrived at our understanding of the laws of motion and gravitation traces both the historical progress and explains the central scientific ideas. Aimed at a 'non-technical' reader this book has an anecdotal approach describing experiments to further understand gravity and natural phenomena.

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Críticas:

'Astrophysicist Prabhakar Gondhalekar guides us through gravity's maze. He begins with Aristotle, dwells on the insights of Galileo, Newton and Einstein, and finishes with 10-dimensional 'superstring' theory, the great hope for a theory that unifies gravity with quantum theory. The Grip of Gravity is replete with entertaining digressions and biographical sketches.' Marcus Chown, New Scientist

'The Grip of Gravity by physicist Prabhakar Gondhalekar traces mankind's search for the laws of motion and gravitation throughout history, with each chapter devoted to a different scientist from history ... Gondhalekar's historical account of the path of scientific discovery which dominates the first half of the book is highly entertaining ... As the book progresses, Gondhalekar continues to describe the history of the field, but places more and more emphasis on explaining the science to non-physicists. His explanations are patient, practical and clear, with the race between theory and experimental verification presented as thrilling scientific adventure ... With many subplots skillfully woven into the main account, Gondhalekar has come up with a coherent, comprehensive and up-to-date story of our long quest to understand gravity.' Jens Gundlach, Physics World

'I recommend it without reservation.' Auke Slotegraaf, MNASSA

'it is accessible to a (highly) educated general public, at the same time providing a wealth of information on the newest research results on gravitation in space sciences to the scientist working in neighboring fields like astronomy or geodesy ... I strongly recommend this extraordinary book (at least) to every space geodesist.' Helmut Moritz, Journal of Geodesy

'This is a lively and entertaining history that follows the evolution of our scientific understanding against the background of the personalities involved and the political climates in which they lived ... a book that is, perhaps unusually for a popular science book, both very readable and understandable. It should appeal to students, interested non-specialists, and experts in the field.' David Robertson, The Observatory

Biografía del autor:

Prab Gondalekhar studied physics at Imperial College, London and his doctorate in physics was awarded by the University of London.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0521803160
• ISBN 13: 9780521803168
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 368