The Trouble with Gravity: Solving the Mystery Beneath Our Feet

Panek (The 4% Universe) is one of the best of the postgravitational-waves-discovery physics books for fans of popular science. Undeterred by Nobelist Kip Thorne amusedly telling him that the question “What is Gravity?” is meaningless, Panek proceeds to explore attempts to find an answer to the question. Beginning with myths from around the world that all differentiate between “down” here where we live and “up” there where there are stars, Panek progresses through key philosophical and scientific points made by Aristotle, John Philoponus, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, and more. His journey through time is written in a conversational style with clear explanations. For example, he describes Galileo’s main experiment with gravity: rolling balls of differing weights down various inclines. Panek makes clear that our understanding of gravity, and of the universe itself, is rapidly accelerating: “Aristotle’s universe lasted 2000 years. Newton’s…200 years. Einstein’s less than a decade.”