Gravity from the Ground Up
eBook - PDF

Gravity from the Ground Up

An Introductory Guide to Gravity and General Relativity

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Gravity from the Ground Up

An Introductory Guide to Gravity and General Relativity

About this book

This book invites the reader to understand our Universe, not just marvel at it. From the clock-like motions of the planets to the catastrophic collapse of a star into a black hole, gravity controls the Universe. Gravity is central to modern physics, helping to answer the deepest questions about the nature of time, the origin of the Universe and the unification of the forces of nature. Linking key experiments and observations through careful physical reasoning, the author builds the reader's insight step-by-step from simple but profound facts about gravity on Earth to the frontiers of research. Topics covered include the nature of stars and galaxies, the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, black holes, gravitational waves, inflation and the Big Bang. Suitable for general readers and for undergraduate courses, the treatment uses only high-school level mathematics, supplemented by optional computer programs, to explain the laws of physics governing gravity.

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Yes, you can access Gravity from the Ground Up by Bernard Schutz in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Physical Sciences & Astronomy & Astrophysics. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Background: what you need to know before you start
  7. 1 Gravity on Earth: the inescapable force
  8. 2 And then came Newton: gravity takes center stage
  9. 3 Satellites: what goes up doesn’t always come down
  10. 4 The Solar System: a triumph for Newtonian gravity
  11. 5 Tides and tidal forces: the real signature of gravity
  12. 6 Interplanetary travel: the cosmic roller-coaster
  13. 7 Atmospheres: keeping planets covered
  14. 8 Gravity in the Sun: keeping the heat on
  15. 9 Reaching for the stars: the emptiness of outer space
  16. 10 The colors of stars: why they are black (bodies)
  17. 11 Stars at work: factories for the Universe
  18. 12 Birth to death: the life cycle of the stars
  19. 13 Binary stars: tidal forces on a huge scale
  20. 14 Galaxies: atoms in the Universe
  21. 15 Physics at speed: Einstein stands on Galileo’s shoulders
  22. 16 Relating to Einstein: logic and experiment in relativity
  23. 17 Spacetime geometry: finding out what is not relative
  24. 18 Einstein’s gravity: Einstein climbs onto Newton’s shoulders
  25. 19 Einstein’s recipe: fashioning the geometry of gravity
  26. 20 Neutron stars: laboratories of strong gravity
  27. 21 Black holes: gravity’s one-way street
  28. 22 Gravitational waves: gravity speaks
  29. 23 Gravitational lenses: bringing the Universe into focus
  30. 24 Cosmology: the study of everything
  31. 25 The Big Bang: the seed from which we grew
  32. 26 Einstein’s Universe: the geometry of cosmology
  33. 27 Ask the Universe: cosmic questions at the frontiers of gravity
  34. Appendix: values of useful constants
  35. Glossary
  36. Index