Traveling at the Speed of Thought
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A01=Daniel Kennefick
Absorber
Acceleration
Analogy
Approximation
Astronomer
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Author_Daniel Kennefick
Back action (quantum)
Back-reaction
Binary pulsar
Binary star
Calculation
Category=DNBT
Category=PH
Celestial mechanics
Classical electromagnetism
Classical mechanics
Coordinate system
Einstein field equations
Einstein tensor
Electromagnetic field
Electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetism
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eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
Equations of motion
Equivalence principle
Felix Pirani
General covariance
General relativity
Gravitational energy
Gravitational field
Gravitational potential
Gravitational wave
Gravity
Gravity wave
Hermann Bondi
Interview
Inverse-square law
Kip Thorne
LIGO
Mathematician
Mathematics
Maxwell's equations
Minkowski space
Newton's law of universal gravitation
Orbit
Orbital decay
Perihelion and aphelion
Peter Bergmann
Physicist
Plane wave
Post-Newtonian expansion
Prediction
Quadrupole
Quadrupole formula
Quantity
Quantum field theory
Quantum gravity
Radiation damping
Result
Retarded potential
Richard Feynman
Scientist
Skepticism
Special relativity
Theoretical physics
Theory
Theory of relativity
Two-body problem
Vladimir Fock
Wavefront
Wavelength
Wheeler-Feynman absorber theory
Product details
- ISBN 9780691117270
- Weight: 595g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 15 Apr 2007
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Since Einstein first described them nearly a century ago, gravitational waves have been the subject of more sustained controversy than perhaps any other phenomenon in physics. These as yet undetected fluctuations in the shape of space-time were first predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity, but only now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, are we on the brink of finally observing them. Daniel Kennefick's landmark book takes readers through the theoretical controversies and thorny debates that raged around the subject of gravitational waves after the publication of Einstein's theory. The previously untold story of how we arrived at a settled theory of gravitational waves includes a stellar cast from the front ranks of twentieth-century physics, including Richard Feynman, Hermann Bondi, John Wheeler, Kip Thorne, and Einstein himself, who on two occasions avowed that gravitational waves do not exist, changing his mind both times. The book derives its title from a famously skeptical comment made by Arthur Stanley Eddington in 1922--namely, that "gravitational waves propagate at the speed of thought."
Kennefick uses the title metaphorically to contrast the individual brilliance of each of the physicists grappling with gravitational-wave theory against the frustratingly slow progression of the field as a whole. Accessibly written and impeccably researched, this book sheds new light on the trials and conflicts that have led to the extraordinary position in which we find ourselves today--poised to bring the story of gravitational waves full circle by directly confirming their existence for the very first time.
Daniel Kennefick is Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Arkansas. He is an editor of "The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein" (Princeton).
