Ripples in Spacetime

Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy

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Ripples in Spacetime

By: Govert Schilling, Martin Rees

Narrated by: Joel Richards

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About this listen

Ripples in Spacetime is an engaging account of the international effort to complete Einstein's project, capture his elusive ripples, and launch an era of gravitational-wave astronomy that promises to explain, more vividly than ever before, our universe's structure and origin.

The quest for gravitational waves involved years of risky research and many personal and professional struggles that threatened to derail one of the world's largest scientific endeavors. Govert Schilling takes listeners to sites where these stories unfolded - including Japan's KAGRA detector, Chile's Atacama Cosmology Telescope, the South Pole's BICEP detectors, and the United States' LIGO labs. He explains the seeming impossibility of developing technologies sensitive enough to detect waves from two colliding black holes in the very distant universe, and describes the astounding precision of the LIGO detectors. Along the way, Schilling clarifies concepts such as general relativity, neutron stars, and the big bang using language that listeners with little scientific background can grasp.

Astronomy

Astronomy & Space Science

Engineering

History

History & Philosophy

Physics

Science

Cosmology

Black Hole

Mathematics

Solar System

Interstellar

Space Theory

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Critic reviews

"An exciting history of the second great breakthrough of 21st-century physics." ( Kirkus, starred review)

Most relevant

This is NOT a SCIENCE BOOK! Yes there are scientific concepts and yes there are some technical descriptions but Govert Schilling writes in a beautifully paired back style. the story of how Gravitational Waves (GW) were finally proved to be real is both a detective story and a story of Human endeavor. Its expansive and engaging. Schilling writes with obvious passion for the subject and it is also great to be able to look up the references he mentions in the text of meetings and announcements to do with the discovery.

A genuinely wonderful book that deserves the time spent to listen. Do not be afraid of the science content. It is handled with easy to understand metaphors and where that is not possible the concepts are broken down and there is enough contextual repetition of concepts to ensure by the end you understand the subject. A real gem this one and worth every penny...