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434th out of 594 books
—
1,313 voters
Gravity: How the Weakest Force in the Universe Shaped Our Lives
by
Brian Clegg (Goodreads Author)
A history of gravity, and a study of its importance and relevance to our lives, as well as its influence on other areas of science.
Physicists will tell you that four forces control the universe. Of these, gravity may the most obvious, but it is also the most mysterious. Newton managed to predict the force of gravity but couldn’t explain how it worked at a distance. Einstei...more
Physicists will tell you that four forces control the universe. Of these, gravity may the most obvious, but it is also the most mysterious. Newton managed to predict the force of gravity but couldn’t explain how it worked at a distance. Einstei...more
336 pages
Published
May 22nd 2012
by St. Martin's Press
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GRAVITY. (2012). Brian Clegg. ****.
An informative, though often nebulous exposition on the least understood force in the universe. The book starts out with a history on the study of gravity from the times of the ancient Greeks and ends up with the state of the science at the present day. Along the way, I managed to learn a few things. For example, GPS satellites “rely on comparing the time signals from a number of satellites to establish location. But the clocks on those satellites generating t...more
An informative, though often nebulous exposition on the least understood force in the universe. The book starts out with a history on the study of gravity from the times of the ancient Greeks and ends up with the state of the science at the present day. Along the way, I managed to learn a few things. For example, GPS satellites “rely on comparing the time signals from a number of satellites to establish location. But the clocks on those satellites generating t...more
Review Originally published at Bookshelf Love:http://bookshelflove.blogspot.co...
Clegg, Brian. Gravity: How the Weakest Force in the Universe Shaped Our Lives. New York: St. Martin's, 2012. Hardcover. +336 pages. $25.99. Release date: 22 May 2012.
Full disclosure: I received a digital advance copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Gravity is one of those books that is trying to do two things and doing neither very well. At once, it's attempting to be a history of gravity as we know it an...more
Clegg, Brian. Gravity: How the Weakest Force in the Universe Shaped Our Lives. New York: St. Martin's, 2012. Hardcover. +336 pages. $25.99. Release date: 22 May 2012.
Full disclosure: I received a digital advance copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Gravity is one of those books that is trying to do two things and doing neither very well. At once, it's attempting to be a history of gravity as we know it an...more
“Astronomy is such a high-minded, theoretical field of inquiry. The objects of its study are not at all down-to-Earth. Observations can be made only via the electro-magnetic spectrum (light).”
Brian Clegg proved my posting on Facebook true with this book. He started (and ended) with the question of what happens when you hold out a book and let go. It falls. Why?
Beginning with the natural philosophy of the ancient Greek Aristotle, passing through Galileo and Newton, and beyond Einstein, the autho...more
Brian Clegg proved my posting on Facebook true with this book. He started (and ended) with the question of what happens when you hold out a book and let go. It falls. Why?
Beginning with the natural philosophy of the ancient Greek Aristotle, passing through Galileo and Newton, and beyond Einstein, the autho...more
This is a book with a distinct identity crisis. It masquerades in some parts as a work on the history of gravity, then occasionally digresses into biographies of gravity scientists like Newton and Einstein, and then takes on the deep science of gravity and the connected physics (often in language much too dense to fully comprehend the arguments), while randomly reporting on "pseudoscientific" excursions and arbitrary discoveries that are quite peripheral to the main hypotheses being discussed. C...more
This is a very well written history of our ideas concerning gravity, from the Greeks to the present. His explanations of current thoughts are the easiest to comprehend of any I have read. I'll be sure to read more of his books.
This book mixes physics explanation of Gravity with the theory that were made about this argument from the beginning of philosophy. It's very articulated and long, maybe too long, and maybe it's just the topic that's not so interesting, for me anyway.
Questo libro mischia spiegazioni di tipo fisico della gravità, con tutte le teorie che nel corso dei secoli si sono evolute per spiegare il concetto. E' un libro lungo e molto articolato, ma forse per quanto mi riguarda forse era l'argomento che, al...more
Questo libro mischia spiegazioni di tipo fisico della gravità, con tutte le teorie che nel corso dei secoli si sono evolute per spiegare il concetto. E' un libro lungo e molto articolato, ma forse per quanto mi riguarda forse era l'argomento che, al...more
An enthralling read, but a nonetheless confusing one way over my head. The fact that the author is already trying to simplify things makes it even more depressing.
I have received this book from Goodreads! It is definitely very educational and interesting but sometimes it can be a bit boring but it can definitely help in the future for school.
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Universe, Some Updates... | 1 | 3 | 14. August, 20:58 Uhr |
Brian Clegg has a degree in natural sciences from Cambridge and a masters in Operational Research. He spent seventeen years with British Airways, where he formed a new department tasked with developing hi-tech solutions for the airline, and now speaks throughout the world on business and science-related topics.
He is the author of several popular science titles, including Inflight Science, The God...more
More about Brian Clegg...
He is the author of several popular science titles, including Inflight Science, The God...more
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21. Februar, 15:33 Uhr