Forward
Our records relating to the study of physics primarily originated in countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Some information filtered in from china and the Ottoman�s empire added a few pieces of valuable information during Europe�s dark ages.
Gravity is one of the oldest of studied physical phenomena and possibly the least understood. It started as a field of study with the Greeks. Aristotle conducted a few experiments and concluded from those experiments that gravity is an acceleration. Then Aristotle conducted thought experiments and concluded that heavy objects fell faster than light ones.
In 1585 a Flemish engineer dropped objects of different weight and noted that they struck the ground at the same time. This observation started others on the way to breaking the hold that Aristotle had on the concept of gravity for almost 2000 years. Five years later Galileo conducted his experiments. The year Galileo died Newton was born. Then about 1915 Einstein conducted his thought experiments and gave us general relativity. Theories pertaining to gravity have come in leaps with significant time gaps separating the advances.
Time is another other part of the gravity equation. Other parts of the gravity equation are acceleration, space-time, mass-energy, relativity, and maybe even electromagnetism.
The challenge of this book is to present experiments and question that will hopefully help move mankind closer to a better understanding of gravity.
Technology improvements and measurements are providing information and data that were not available just a few years ago. This book will look at experiments conducted by physicist who consider themselves part of the establishment, experiments conducted by amateurs, and experiments that have had unusual results from other areas of science.
The Greeks believed, everything could be explained with geometry. All through the development of gravity theories, geometry has had a strong influence. From weird orbits for the planets during the geocentric period, to harmony of the spheres during the solar-centric period. The concept of general relativity is that gravity is related to the geometry of space-time. When you evaluate where the concepts of gravity are today we have come full circle to geometry, the gift of the Greeks.
There is a continuing search for a better understanding of how gravity relates to the other forces of nature. Among the professional physicists General Relativity defines gravity and Quantum Mechanics defines the other three fundamental forces, and they are trying to intertwine the two using String Theories or other sets of complex equations. Among the nonprofessional there is a wide gambit of ideas, the Internet is full of them. The goal of most nonprofessionals is to harness the power of gravity or �antigravity.� Some of these ideas have some basis in fact, others are blue sky dreaming, and for the most part the neophyte fall victim to the big or complex word syndrom. They don�t seem to understand that it is not words but experiments that provide answers.
Leaving philosophy and speculative theories behind. This book will ask question, look at extraordinary claims for possible clues. Examine published measurements from what may or may not be relevant experiments. Scrutinize claims from experiments that at first may seem suspicious. Analyze all these to see if there is usable information or at least phenomena that may provide some hints concerning the working of gravity.