THE BEAUTY OF FALLING

An acclaimed physicist takes a deep dive into one of the most fundamental and mysterious forces of the universe.

On a superficial level, gravity seems to be a fairly simple concept—it makes objects fall—but to inquiring minds like de Rham’s, a professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London, gravity represents a series of puzzling challenges. The author admits to a long-standing obsession with it, fueled by her pursuits of scuba diving and piloting a light airplane. She recounts how she was extremely close to becoming an astronaut but was thwarted at the last minute by a diagnosis of latent tuberculosis. The setback led de Rham to delve even further into the subject of gravity; in this book, she explains its nature and operations, from Newton’s theories to black holes. This is an inherently complex subject, and the author sometimes seems to forget that not everyone has an advanced degree in physics. She works through Einstein’s theory of gravity, taken as scientific gospel for decades. The emergence of quantum mechanics led to cracks in the Einsteinian picture, and de Rham capably traces the arguments. Gravity appears to work in light-like waves, known to physicists as “glight.” The author and her colleagues, however, believed that the jigsaw puzzle still had missing pieces, so they began to develop a theory of a new force called “massive gravity,” which has led to a widespread questioning of prevailing views. The theory is the subject of heated debate within the physics community; if proven, it would create a critical shift in thinking about astrophysics. This book may lose general readers in the scientific thickets, but those who enjoy the work of James Gleick and Brian Greene will find it an intriguing read.

At the leading edge of science, this book combines innovative research with a personal story.