Ripples in Spacetime: Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy

by Govert Schilling Narrated by Joel Richards

Overview

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.

Editorial Reviews

BBC Sky at Night Magazine - Jenny Winder

[Ripples in Spacetime] explains complex ideas clearly and entertainingly…It details the personalities, rivalries, collaborations, controversies, setbacks and successes of the century-long quest to test Einstein’s theories. Bang up to date, the book describes science in progress and as a process: how ideas are developed and discoveries made and rejected or confirmed. The best part for me was the detail the book goes into about the first detection and the meticulous protocols in place to scrutinize and eliminate every possible error. Schilling also looks ahead to what we can expect in this whole new field of astronomy. This is a book for everyone who was as excited as I was when the [Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory] discovery first broke, but also for anyone who wants to know what all the fuss was about.

New York Times Book Review - James Ryerson

A detailed account of the quest to detect gravitational waves.

Forbes - Ethan Siegel

In a sweeping new book, Ripples in Spacetime: Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy, prolific science writer Govert Schilling has achieved the fascinating trifecta of historical and scientific accuracy, a grand sense of wonder and curiosity, and brilliantly accessible storytelling…Ripples in Spacetime goes far beyond the gravitational wave story you've heard over the past few years…It belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in learning the scientific, historical, and personal stories behind some of the most incredible scientific advances of the 21st century. As our scientific progress continues, this book will serve as a reminder of how far we’ve already come, how we got there, and what we’re looking forward to with our most hopeful ambitions.

Nature - Barbara Kiser

In September 2015, a new frontier in astronomy beckoned with the first direct detection of gravitational waves, confirming Albert Einstein's prediction almost a century before. Govert Schilling's deliciously nerdy grand tour takes us through compelling backstory, current research and future expectations.

David Shoemaker

I read with great pleasure this friendly book. The placement of the detection of gravitational waves in the greater history of astronomy and physics is nicely done, and readers not yet familiar with many of the concepts will come away from the book having really learned some of the physics as well as having a sense of what real science and real scientists are like. The scope and organization makes it entertaining and leaves room for surprises.

New Statesman - Manjit Kumar

Engaging.

Sky & Telescope - Monica Young

Ripples in Spacetime provides a comprehensive and approachable guide to a complex subject.

Robbert Dijkgraaf

In this elegant and captivating book Govert Schilling takes us by the hand through a century of scientific adventures to one of the biggest discoveries of history.

CERN Courier - Guillermo Ballestero

[Ripples in Spacetime] offers the reader a journey that goes beyond its title, exploring and connecting topics such as the cosmic-microwave background and its polarization, radioastronomy and pulsars, supernovae, primordial inflation, gamma-ray bursts and even dark energy… The book gives an interesting (and sometimes surprising) glimpse into the lives, aspirations and mutual interactions of the scientific pioneers in the field of gravitational waves.

Physics Today - Richard O’Shaughnessy

A succinct, accessible, and remarkably timely survey of gravitational-wave astronomy as it developed over the past century…This book is a rare find…The book’s remarkable breadth and accessibility should make it the first piece of reading material for anyone—from high school students to policymakers—with an interest in gravitational waves…Ripples in Spacetime sets itself apart by putting the entire field into perspective—past, present, and future. It conveys a sense of awe about a century of scientific investment and achievement and a sense of excitement for what’s to come.

The Guardian - Graham Farmelo

Schilling gives us a lively and readable account of the [gravitational] waves’ discovery... Schilling underlines that this discovery is the opening of a new window on the universe, the beginning of a new branch of science. Astronomers will no longer be limited to observing space through the waves of electricity and magnetism (for example, visible light) entering telescopes, but will be able to observe it through waves of gravity. Galileo would have been amazed.

Physics Today - Richard O’Shaughnessy

A succinct, accessible, and remarkably timely survey of gravitational-wave astronomy as it developed over the past century…This book is a rare find…The book’s remarkable breadth and accessibility should make it the first piece of reading material for anyone—from high school students to policymakers—with an interest in gravitational waves…Ripples in Spacetime sets itself apart by putting the entire field into perspective—past, present, and future. It conveys a sense of awe about a century of scientific investment and achievement and a sense of excitement for what’s to come.

From the Publisher

"An exciting history of the second great breakthrough of 21st-century physics." ---Kirkus Starred Review

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"An exciting history of the second great breakthrough of 21st-century physics." —Kirkus Starred Review

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2017-06-05
A fascinating story of astronomy that represents "the culmination of a century-long quest and the starting point for a completely new chapter in our exploration of the universe."The detection of gravitational waves in 2015 produced fewer headlines than the 2013 discovery of the Higgs particle, but it may be more significant; it's also easier to explain. Of course, "easier to explain" is not the same as "easy," but science journalist Schilling (Deep Space: Beyond the Solar System to the End of the Universe and the Beginning of Time, 2014, etc.) walks readers through a lucid history of the universe, of general relativity, and of the bumpy search for Einstein's last major unconfirmed prediction: the existence of gravitational waves. The author reminds readers that scientists regarded gravity as a force between bodies (like electromagnetism) until Einstein set them straight. He showed that any object with mass distorts space-time in its vicinity; no force acts on nearby bodies, but their movement appears to curve as they pass through. He also theorized that an accelerating body loses energy in the form of gravity waves, which are extremely faint. Schilling delivers a lively, expert, mostly comprehensible account, equal parts politics, personality, and science, of the search that ended two years ago when "for about one-fifth of a second…sensitive detectors measured ripples in spacetime that were 10,000 times as small as the diameter of a proton." Schilling emphasizes that this is not simply another feather in Einstein's cap, but a valuable new tool. The early universe was opaque to radiation until 380,000 years after the Big Bang, but gravity waves poured out from almost the beginning, so a new field of "gravitational wave astronomy" can look back almost to the birth of the cosmos. An exciting history of the second great breakthrough of 21st-century physics.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171270919
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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