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|title=The Ascent of Gravity

|sort= Ascent of Gravity

|website=http://marcuschown.com/

|video=CdDfZ3cZaLE

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Evidence for gravitational waves was picked up by the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) in 2015, a hundred years after Einstein predicted their existence. As the book says 'a good case can be made that the discovery of gravitational waves is the most important development in astronomy since the invention of the telescope in 1608'. Why? And why does it matter for the understanding of physics and the universe? Well, Marcus Chown's new book will lead you gently through the background to this discovery and with a small amount of effort on your part you should grasp its relevance.

My two minor quibbles are endnotes instead of footnotes, and invented scenes. The endnotes are a mixture of references to scientific papers which he needs to give but the reader can safely ignore, and actual explanatory paragraphs that give extra detail. Personally I find it irritating flicking back and forth to see if I need to look at the note or not. The invented scenes are rare, thankfully, and for some readers they will add a touch of human colour but in the vein of dramatic reconstructions on TV they show us Einstein or Newton having their moment of epiphany when in fact we haven't a clue how it happened.

{{amazontext|amazon=1474601863}}