The Ascent of Gravity

The Quest to Understand the Force that Explains Everything

Marcus Chown Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2017 Hb, xx + 268pp, notes, ind, £16.99, ISBN 9781474601863

Gravity certainly isn’t “the force that explains everything”, and to the best of my knowledge no one has ever claimed that it is. On the other hand, it’s played a key role in pushing forward our understanding of the Universe at three different points in history. The first was in the 17th century, when Newton came up with a mathematically simple, but metaphysically awkward, theory of gravity as “action at a distance” that explained virtually all the orbital motions in the Solar System. Then in the early 20th century, gravity became topical again when Einstein replaced Newton’s theory with his mathematically horrendous, but metaphysically satisfying, concept of space–time curvature. Now, a century later, gravity is at the forefront of research for a third time, with the ongoing quest for a unified theory of gravity and quantum physics.

It doesn’t seem that long ago (about four years, actually) that I reviewed Brian Clegg’s Gravity [ FT296:62], which covers all these ideas in a fascinating and absorbing package. Does the world really need another book, by another British writer of the same generation and similar background, on exactly the same subject? I’m not sure that it does. As someone who reads a lot of popular science, I found Chown’s book shallower than Clegg’s, with a lot of hackneyed material easily found in many other places, and fewer of the “I never realised that” insights that Clegg offers. On the other hand, for someone who is new to physics and the history of science, Chown’s book would be a better place to start than Clegg’s – and probably a more enjoyable read. Looking back at that earlier review, my main criticism of Clegg’s approach was that he underplayed the “detective mystery” aspect of the subject – and that’s certainly something Chown captures to perfection.