Three Hundred Years of Gravitation

To commemorate the 300th anniversary of the publication of Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Stephen Hawking and Werner Israel have assembled a series of unique review papers by many of the world's foremost researchers in cosmology, relativity and particle physics. The resulting volume reflects the significant and exciting advances that have been made in these fields since the editor's acclaimed volume published in 1979: General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey. Newton's immense contribution to the physical sciences is assessed, and its relevance to today's physics made clear. The international contributors then chart the major developments in the study of gravitation, from Newtonian gravity to black hole physics. In the fields of galaxy formation, inflationary and quantum cosmology, and superstring unification, the book provides important overviews written by workers involved in many of the advances described. By shaping such a wide-ranging and scholarly series of articles into a cohesive whole, the editors have created a fitting and lasting memorial to the man who continues to inspire scientists the world over. This book is an essential reference source of the latest advances in gravitational physics and relativistic cosmology.