Clifford M. Will - Böcker

Albert Einstein is often viewed as the icon of genius, and his theories are admired for their beauty and correctness. Yet the final judge of any theory is the rigorous test of experiment, not the fame of its inventor or the allure of its mathematics. For decades, general relativity has passed test after test with flying colors, including some remarkable new tests using the recently detected gravitational waves. Still, there are reasons for doubt. Einstein's theory of gravity, as beautiful as it is, seems to be in direct contradiction with another theory he helped create: quantum mechanics. Until recently, this was considered to be a purely academic affair. But as more and more data pour in from the most distant corners of the universe, hinting at bizarre stuff called "dark energy" and "dark matter," some scientists have begun to explore the possibility that Einstein's theory may not provide a complete picture of the cosmos. This book chronicles the latest adventures of scientists as they put Einstein's theory to the test in ever more precise and astonishing ways, and in ever more extreme situations, when gravity is unfathomably intense and rapidly churning. From the explosions of neutron stars and the collisions of black holes to the modern scientific process as a means to seek truth and understanding in the cosmos, this book takes the reader on a journey of learning and discovery that has been 100 years in the making.

In early 1970 President Richard M. Nixon created a new executive office, the Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP), and appointed Dr. Clay T. Whitehead as OTP's first director. (Whitehead had previously been on the staff of Peter Flanigan, a presidential assistant responsible for telecommunications policy at the White House.) What was the motivation behind this action? Were political interests being served? With what results? Thomas Will believes that these and other questions must be raised in view of the history of the Nixon administration. In an attempt to answer them, he examines the development of telecommunications policy in the executive branch from 1900 to 1970. Dr. Will reviews the early executive branch involvement in radio telecommunications, the Radio Act of 1927 and the Communications Act of 1934, the technological advance of radio telecommunications and its effect on the executive branch before and after World War II, the. appointments of telecommunications advisors to presidents from 1951 to 1967, and the creation of the President's Task Force in 1967 to deal with the problems created by an inherently limited radio spectrum. He traces the steps taken to create the OTP and analyzes the extent to which the office reflected a traditional progression of executive branch telecommunications authority. His study and conclusions are directly and essentially relevant to the current debate on telecommunications policy.

In early 1970 President Richard M. Nixon created a new executive office, the Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP), and appointed Dr. Clay T. Whitehead as OTP's first director. (Whitehead had previously been on the staff of Peter Flanigan, a presidential assistant responsible for telecommunications policy at the White House.) What was the motivation behind this action? Were political interests being served? With what results? Thomas Will believes that these and other questions must be raised in view of the history of the Nixon administration. In an attempt to answer them, he examines the development of telecommunications policy in the executive branch from 1900 to 1970. Dr. Will reviews the early executive branch involvement in radio telecommunications, the Radio Act of 1927 and the Communications Act of 1934, the technological advance of radio telecommunications and its effect on the executive branch before and after World War II, the. appointments of telecommunications advisors to presidents from 1951 to 1967, and the creation of the President's Task Force in 1967 to deal with the problems created by an inherently limited radio spectrum. He traces the steps taken to create the OTP and analyzes the extent to which the office reflected a traditional progression of executive branch telecommunications authority. His study and conclusions are directly and essentially relevant to the current debate on telecommunications policy.

This textbook explores approximate solutions to general relativity and their consequences. It offers a unique presentation of Einstein's theory by developing powerful methods that can be applied to astrophysical systems. Beginning with a uniquely thorough treatment of Newtonian gravity, the book develops post-Newtonian and post-Minkowskian approximation methods to obtain weak-field solutions to the Einstein field equations. The book explores the motion of self-gravitating bodies, the physics of gravitational waves, and the impact of radiative losses on gravitating systems. It concludes with a brief overview of alternative theories of gravity. Ideal for graduate courses on general relativity and relativistic astrophysics, the book examines real-life applications, such as planetary motion around the Sun, the timing of binary pulsars, and gravitational waves emitted by binary black holes. Text boxes explore related topics and provide historical context, and over 100 exercises present challenging tests of the material covered in the main text.

The 2015 centenary of the publication of Einstein's general theory of relativity, and the first detection of gravitational waves have focused renewed attention on the question of whether Einstein was right. This review of experimental gravity provides a detailed survey of the intensive testing of Einstein's theory of gravity, including tests in the emerging strong-field dynamical regime. It discusses the theoretical frameworks needed to analyze gravitational theories and interpret experiments. Completely revised and updated, this new edition features coverage of new alternative theories of gravity, a unified treatment of gravitational radiation, and the implications of the latest binary pulsar observations. It spans the earliest tests involving the Solar System to the latest tests using gravitational waves detected from merging black holes and neutron stars. It is a comprehensive reference for researchers and graduate students working in general relativity, cosmology, particle physics and astrophysics.