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→Einsteinian Gravitation: add Grossmann, Hilbert
Newton's theory of gravitation stood, refined and reformulated, but essentially unchanged, for more than two centuries.
Newton's theory of gravitation stood, refined and reformulated, but essentially unchanged, for more than two centuries.
=== Einsteinian Gravitation ===
=== Relativistic Gravitation ===
In 1915, [[Albert Einstein]] published the [[general theory of relativity]], a radical reinterpretation of the phenomenon of gravitation, based on the work of [[Marcel Grossmann]], [[David Hilbert]], and others. Whereas Galileo described gravity in terms of motion, and Newton described gravity in terms of force, Einstein described gravity in terms of inertial motion in curved spacetime, such curvature being a function of the matter and fields in a given region. In the famous words of physicist John Wheeler, "Matter tells space how to curve, and space tells matter how to move."<ref>Misner, Thorne & Wheeler. <i>Gravitation.</i> (1973)</ref>
Just as the Newtonian theory reduced to Galilean gravitation near the surface of the Earth, general relativity gravitation reduces to Newtonian gravity where gravitational fields are relatively weak. Only when gravitational fields are strong, such as the field around the sun within the orbit of [[Mercury]], do Newton's equations fail to produce a good approximation of reality.
Just as the Newtonian theory reduced to Galilean gravitation near the surface of the Earth, Einstein's theory of gravitation reduces to Newtonian gravity where gravitational fields are relatively weak. Only when gravitational fields are strong, such as the field around the sun within the orbit of [[Mercury]], do Newton's equations fail to produce a good approximation of reality.
=== The Possibility of Quantum Gravitation ===
=== The Possibility of Quantum Gravitation ===