Gravity from the ground up / B.F. Schutz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schutz, Bernard F.

Contributor:

Emma Louise McClellan Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gravitation.

Gravity.

Gravity--Seasonal variations.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 462 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Summary:

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 dentral to modern physics: it helps to answer the deepest questions about the nature of time, the origin of the Universe and the unification of the forces of Nature. Weaving together 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. These discussions lead to related subjects in physics, such as the nature of light and heat, quantum phenomena and nuclear physics, and to the questions that the coming theory of quantum gravity will address. Suitable for general readers and for undergraduate courses, the treatment uses only high-school level mathematics, supplemented by optional computer programs, to achieve a remarkably deep understanding of the workings of the laws of gravitational physics from Newton to Einstein.

Contents:

1 Gravity on Earth: the inescapable force 1

2 And then came Newton: gravity takes center stage 9

3 Satellites: what goes up doesn't always come down 19

4 The Solar System: a triumph for Newtonian gravity 25

5 Tides and tidal forces: the real signature of gravity 39

6 Interplanetary travel: the cosmic roller-coaster 51

7 Atmospheres: keeping planets covered 65

8 Gravity in the Sun: keeping the heat on 85

9 Reaching for the stars: the emptiness of outer space 103

10 The colors of stars: why they are black (bodies) 109

11 Stars at work: factories for the Universe 121

12 Birth to death: the life cycle of the stars 135

13 Binary stars: tidal forces on a huge scale 153

14 Galaxies: atoms in the Universe 163

15 Physics at speed: Einstein stands on Galileo's shoulders 179

16 Relating to Einstein: logic and experiment in relativity 195

17 Spacetime geometry: finding out what is not relative 211

18 Einstein's gravity: Einstein climbs onto Newton's shoulders 225

19 Einstein's recipe: fashioning the geometry of gravity 239

20 Neutron stars: laboratories of strong gravity 261

21 Black holes: gravity's one-way street 285

22 Gravitational waves: gravity speaks 309

23 Gravitational lenses: bringing the Universe into focus 331

24 Cosmology: the study of everything 345

25 The Big Bang: the seed from which we grew 367

26 Einstein's Universe: the geometry of cosmology 383

27 Ask the Universe: cosmic questions at the frontiers of gravity 391.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Emma Louise McClellan Fund.

ISBN:

0521455065

OCLC:

48871210

Online:

Publisher description