Gravity's Century
From Einstein's Eclipse to Images of Black Holes
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Gravity's Century
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Narrated by:
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John Patrick Walsh
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By:
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Ron Cowen
About this listen
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 findings 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, one 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.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Ron Cowen (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Gravity's Century
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- Daniela
- 31-08-23
Fascinating
Thoroughly enjoyed it. I do wish that the author would have elaborated more at the final chapter.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-07-22
This one came out of left field
this was a book included in the plus catalog and I picked it up on a whim along with some great courses science books and a book on time.
this turned out to be a little gem, well structured and performed and was my favourite is the bunch. if your looking for a popsci audio book would recommend.
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- Lee
- 06-09-22
Another cracker...
for those with even a fleeting interest in cosmology. This is well worth the listen. Grab it, keep it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amber Geddes
- 26-11-22
Absolutely brilliant
I completely agree with another review I read saying this book is a hidden gem. I'd looked through included astronomy before and listened to parts of some, but finally stumbled upon this one just a week before I was going to cancel my membership to catch up on the books I have. So I had to race through it in a few days as had to listen to it all! Absolutely fabulous fairly in depth exploration of different discoveries and theories relating to gravity, without wasting any time wittering or giving personal anecdotes of the author as so many books do. Very highly recommended for anyone who'd like to learn about this area of science. It's really sparked by interest in relativity and cosmology again and I've got out more books to listen to on that as a result - I hope they are as good!
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- Chris
- 17-07-22
Excellent Concept
I liked the idea of going from General Relativity to LIGO, this is a great listen if you enjoy good factual science stories.
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