Re: The Einstein Effect

On 09/01/2025 18:48, john larkin wrote:

On Wed, 8 Jan 2025 17:42:39 -0000 (UTC), "Don" <g@crcomp.net> wrote:
 

john larkin wrote:

>
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/einstein-and-adam-grant-agree-the-puzzle-principle-will-make-you-instantly-smarter/91102339
>
Cohen's book looks interesting, so I ordered it.
>
I'm now reading Gleick's short biography of Isaac Newton, who was a
very weird guy.

>
Einstein loved the sound of his own metaphysical bark and wasn't above
fudging the score:
>
<https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/58/9/43/399405/Einstein-Versus-the-Physical-Review-A-great>
>
Regardless, my followup isn't about this thread's titular Einstein.
It's about Newton.
>
    "Did you know? It was AYABHATA & not Newton or (sic) Leibniz who
    first developed Calculus"
>
    <https://x.com/Aelthemplaer/status/1874573331330167032>
>
Danke,

 Seems to me that if gravity has finite velocity, there have to be
gravitational waves.

Classical gravity has infinite velocity. Newton's action at a distance.
If it wasn't instantaneous we would spiral into the sun.
GR treats mass as altering the spacetime around it - redefining straight lines or geodesics there are no forces acting at all.
It is *changes* in gravitational potential that propagate away from the objects causing them at the speed of light. Mass warps spacetime so that straight lines are no longer straight in the classical Euclidean sense.
The most common source of detectable gravitational waves is a black hole merger where they spin up ever faster causing a characteristic chirp. Basically matter going down the plug hole in very big lumps.
The site that allows you to see the most recent one is called "Chirp":
https://chirp.research.exeter.ac.uk/latest
--
Martin Brown