The Ruthlessness of Gravity
- 11.20.12
- 9:24 AM
- Categories: Neuron Culture, Science Blogs
Years ago, I tried crossing a downhill street plated with glare ice (friction is one of our few weapons against gravity) and could no more walk across that street than I could fly. And for the first time, I understood what gravity was capable of. It doesn’t negotiate, it can’t be avoided, it runs this place like an absolute dictatorship.
Anne Finkbeiner, channeling Haldane*, on Falling.
* “You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes.” From On Being the Right Size, by JBS Haldane.
David Dobbs, author of the Kindle Single bestseller My Mother's Lover, writes features and essays for publications including the Atlantic, the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Nature, and other publications. He is working on his fourth book, The Orchid and the Dandelion. You also follow his wider wanderings on Twitter and Tumblr.
Follow @david_dobbs on Twitter.
