The fact that objects dropped from a height fall to the ground, that the Moon is near enough to be seen from Earth, and that we do not float into the air when we are standing still has, of course, been known for thousands of years. What was not known was the reason for these phenomena. It was a British scientist, Isaac Newton, who, in 1666, put forward the idea that the same force — gravity — might be responsible for all these events. Gravity is a force of attraction caused by the huge mass of the Earth.
Four fundamental forces govern all interactions within the Universe. They are weak nuclear forces, strong nuclear forces, electromagnetism, and gravity. Of these, gravity is perhaps the most mysterious. While it has been understood for some time how this law of physics operates on the macro-scale – governing our Solar System, galaxies, and superclusters – how it interacts with the three other fundamental forces remains a mystery.
Naturally, human beings have had a basic understanding of this force since time immemorial. And when it comes to our modern understanding of gravity, credit is owed to one man who deciphered its properties and how it governs all things great and small – Sir Isaac Newton. Thanks to this 17th century English physicist and mathematician, our understanding of the Universe and the laws that govern it would forever be changed.
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