Customer Reviews

Gravity's Shadow: The Search for Gravitational Waves

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This book covers two related stories, each fascinating in its own right. It is first of all the definitive account of the controversy surrounding Joe Weber's claimed detection of gravitational waves, told by someone who has met and interviewed all of the leading participants since the origins of the controversy in the 1970s. Weber was a remarkable character whose story is one of considerable pathos and Collins gives a sympathetic and incisive account of his career and its ramifications that no one else is qualified to give.
The second part of the book covers the dramas that shaped the more recent efforts to detect gravitational waves, a remarkable story with important insights into the way big science projects evolve, sometimes to the point of near implosion. I was a graduate student at Caltech while some of these events occured, and was later a colleague of Collins while he conducted many of his interviews, and can only say that he does an amazing story full justice. As readers of the Golem will know he has a clear, direct style of writing which carries the reader along through a long book, partly for the intrinsic interest of the material, and partly for the engaging style. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in physics.

The research involved in complex sciences and in particular the study of delicate signals which emanate from the edge of our galaxy are not something for the faint of heart to pursue. Collins does a remarkable job of accurately and objectively telling the story of how four decades of intense research unfolded in search of Gravitational Waves by more than a dozen qualified scientists. His perspective is rare as we often are not told about the heartache and miscalculations which inevitably punctuate the search for new knowledge. This book is valuable from the perspective that the reader is shown the effort, dedication and pain that many people endure in the name of science. this is a story that happens time and again but rarely is told with such glaring accuracy to this level of detail and objectivity. Best hundred dollars I have spent on a book in some time and it certainly has aided me in my research

Skip the first 400 pages, unless you're obsessed with Joe Weber. But read the second 400 for an interesting take on the politics and people involved in gravity wave detection. Also a decent presentation of the issues in gravity wave detection for non-physicists.