The Grip of Gravity

Preface; 1. Aristotle; 2. Kepler; 3. Galileo; 4. Newton; 5. Einstein; 6. Dicke; 7. Hubble and Eddington; 8. Planck; Chronology; Notes; Further reading; Index.

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

'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