About the Book: Gravitational Waves: How Einsteins Spacetime Ripples Reveal The
Secrets Of The Universe
On 14 September 2015, after 50 years of searching, gravitational waves were
detected for the first time and astronomy changed for ever. Until then,
investigation of the universe had depended on electromagnetic radiation: visible
light, radio, X-rays and the rest. But gravitational waves - ripples in the
fabric of space and time - are unrelenting, passing through barriers that stop
light dead. At the two 4-kilometre long LIGO observatories in the US, scientists
developed incredibly sensitive detectors, capable of spotting a movement 100
times smaller than the nucleus of an atom. In