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Gravitation Scientists
Name: Unknown
Status: student
Grade: 9-12
Location: LA
Country: N/A
Date: 10/31/2005
Question:
Are there any other scientist who made contributions to
the law of gravity besides Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein?
Replies:
Hi!
As is usual in science, many people contribute to the understanding of any
physics topic, but one or a few names are generally associated with the
accepted theory. This is certainly true of the theory of gravitation.
Although Newton and Einstein are the best-known names, many others
contributed. For example Robert H. Dick and Carl Brans developed a viable
alternative theory of gravitation called the Brans-Dicke theory.
The possibility that stars could collapse to form black holes was first
theoretically "discovered" in 1939 by J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hartland
Snyder, who were manipulating the equations of Einstein's general
relativity. Einstein himself did not believe in black holes.
Many other scientists have contributed to our understanding of gravitation
and continue to do so. Our understanding is still far from complete and
many of the best minds in science are working on the problem.
Best, Dick Plano, Professor of Physics emeritus, Rutgers University
Gravity is the object of much research -- applications, experimental, and
theoretical. In the applications area there are sensitive instruments that
measure the "local" acceleration of gravity. So geologists, and other
Earth scientists can make a "gravity" map of the Earth. This can even be
done by satellite. The more dense the matter at a particular location, the
greater is the local acceleration of gravity. These measurements are very
sensitive and provide data about the Earth's structure at the particular
location where the measurement is made.
In the areas of experimental and theoretical behavior of gravity, the
number of researchers is far too long to list here. Gravity is the least
well understood of the forces of nature which makes it the study of a lot of
basic research. The web sites below will give you a start to study on your
own, some of the many facets of research on gravity.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/string_systems_030226.html
http://www.tamu.edu/univrel/aggiedaily/news/stories/01/020601-5.html
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/ParticleAndNuclear/antimatterFall.html
http://van.hep.uiuc.edu/van/qa/section/Making_Stuff_Move/Gravity/944712190.htm
http://www.astronomycafe.net/gravity/gravity.html
Vince Calder
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