THEME MUSIC
"Facade", Sir William Walton, 1921
THEME MUSIC
"Facade", Sir William Walton, 1921
In 1916, shortly after publishing his theory of general relativity, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves – warps in space-time caused by accelerating matter that ripples outward at the speed of light. However, he believed these ripples would be so slight as to be undetectable, before eventually abandoning the concept altogether. But following decades of scientific developments suggesting their existence, as well as technological innovations making their detection possible, in 2015 a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology recorded humanity’s first direct observation of the phenomena.
In 1916, shortly after publishing his theory of general relativity, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves – warps in space-time caused by accelerating matter that ripples outward at the speed of light. However, he believed these ripples would be so slight as to be undetectable, before eventually abandoning the concept altogether. But following decades of scientific developments suggesting their existence, as well as technological innovations making their detection possible, in 2015 a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology recorded humanity’s first direct observation of the phenomena.
THEME MUSIC
"Facade", Sir William Walton, 1921
A spring inside long tube is attached to a small weight hanging over the lip of the funnel. When the tube is allowed to fall freely, gravity vanishes in the falling reference frame—and the spring pulls the weight over the funnel’s lip into the funnel. The accelerating frame erased gravity momentarily, demonstrating the equivalence of acceleration and gravitation… the key insight of General Relativity! StephenRosen@gmail.com
A SPRING INSIDE LONG TUBE is attached to a small weight hanging over the lip of the funnel. When the tube is allowed to fall freely, gravity vanishes in the falling reference frame—and the spring pulls the weight over the funnel’s lip into the funnel. The accelerating frame erased gravity momentarily, demonstrating the equivalence of acceleration and gravitation… the key insight of General Relativity! StephenRosen@gmail.com
THEME MUSIC
"Facade", Sir William Walton, 1921
THEME MUSIC
"Facade", Sir William Walton, 1921
THOUGH I KNEW EINSTEIN for two or three decades, it was only in the last decade of his life that we were close colleagues and something of friends. But I thought that it might be useful because I am sure that it is not too soon—and for our generation perhaps almost too late—to start to dispel the clouds of myth and to see the great mountain peak that these clouds hide. As always, the myth has its charms; but the truth is far more beautiful.
LATE IN HIS LIFE, in connection with his despair over weapons and wars, Einstein said that if he had to live it over again he would be a plumber. This was a balance of seriousness and jest that no one should now attempt to disturb. Believe me, he had no idea of what it was to be a plumber; least of all in the United States, where we have a joke that the typical behavior of this specialist is that he never brings his tools to the scene of the crisis. Einstein brought his tools to his crises; Einstein was a physicist, a natural philosopher, the greatest of our time.
THOUGH I KNEW EINSTEIN for two or three decades, it was only in the last decade of his life that we were close colleagues and something of friends. But I thought that it might be useful because I am sure that it is not too soon—and for our generation perhaps almost too late—to start to dispel the clouds of myth and to see the great mountain peak that these clouds hide. As always, the myth has its charms; but the truth is far more beautiful.
LATE IN HIS LIFE, in connection with his despair over weapons and wars, Einstein said that if he had to live it over again he would be a plumber. This was a balance of seriousness and jest that no one should now attempt to disturb. Believe me, he had no idea of what it was to be a plumber; least of all in the United States, where we have a joke that the typical behavior of this specialist is that he never brings his tools to the scene of the crisis. Einstein brought his tools to his crises; Einstein was a physicist, a natural philosopher, the greatest of our time.