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Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it. Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica, Laws of Motion I
The alternation of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed. ibid. Laws of Motion II
To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction; or, the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts. ibid. Laws of Motion III
I have not as yet been able to discover the reason for these properties of gravity from phenomena, and I do not feign hypotheses. ibid.
What is there in places empty of matter? And Whence is it that the sun and planets gravitate toward one another without dense matter between them? Whence is it that Nature doth nothing in vain? And Whence arises all that order and beauty which we see in the world? To what end are comets? And Whence is it that planets move all one and the same way in orbs concentrick, while comets move all manner of ways in orbs very excentrick? And What hinders the fixed stars from falling upon one another? Isaac Newton, Opticks, Query XXVIII
The Principia spelled out for the first time the mathematical principles that governed the universe. And the law of gravity that holds all matter in place. Genius of Britain: The Scientists Who Changed the World, Channel 4 2012
Gravitational waves: the hunt … [for] ripples in space-time. Dara O’Briain’s Science Club II
[Roger] Penrose’s theorem had shown that any collapsing star must end in a singularity. Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time p56
Newton realised there was a force at work deep within the fabric of the universe that makes all objects attract each other. Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design: The Key to the Cosmos, Discovery 2012
Gravity is the warping of space/time. ibid.
Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. It is not necessary to invoke God. Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design, Discovery 2012
A black hole by definition is a place where gravity is so great it engulfs everything around it. Stephen Hawking’s Universe: Black Holes & Beyond, BBC 1997
Einstein pictured Space and Time as a fabric. Planets and stars press on this fabric and create dips. In a stroke of genius he realised Gravity was not a force but bends in the fabric of Space and Time. The dips pull objects toward them. Stephen Hawking’s Universe
In the moment after the Big Bang something strange happened to Gravity. It inexplicably got weaker, a change that would be crucial to our very existence. ibid.
Proponents of the string theory think that we’re actually surrounded by nine dimensions ... These extra dimensions explain why gravity is so weak. ibid.
We must understand as it affects individual particles. Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe, Channel 5 2008
Why Gravity is so weak now: the reason: the universe is made up of eleven dimensions. ibid.
The idea is that at the beginning there was just a soup of mass and energy existing at a single point. Then sub-atomic particles separated out from the energy. There was now a universe with tiny irregularities of mass called quantum fluctuations. Scientists believe that somehow these fluctuations grew to become the ripples on the background radiation. And it was those ripples that allowed gravity to get to work to form the galaxies. Horizon: Whispers of Creation, BBC 1994
Isaac Newton had showed that gravity governs the motion of the solar system as well, but how? ... Einstein resumed his thought experiment. He now asked, if gravity and acceleration are equivalent, what happens while accelerating that reveals something new about gravity? Horizon: Einstein Fame, BBC 1996
That’s Gravity – the straightest path through the curves in Space/Time created by matter and energy. ibid.
Whether the universe goes on expanding for ever or re-collapses depends on only one thing: Gravity. Horizon: From Here to Infinity, BBC 1999
They could not believe what they were seeing. They knew the universe should be slowing down in its expansion, that gravity should be tugging on it, pulling it in. But they were seeing something that defied the known laws of Physics, and all their expectations. The universe was speeding up not slowing down. ibid.
There had to be some unknown and mysterious energy out there in the cosmos pushing everything apart, fighting against Gravity. What could this powerful energy be? Why had it never been seen before? What generates it, and where was it hiding? The theorists’ extraordinary conclusion was that this unknown energy came from the very vacuum of space. ibid.
The physicists found a second version of it. And then a third. Soon they had found five different string theories. That wasn’t single and it didn’t sound very definitive. String theory had begun to unravel. It seemed as if the dream of a theory of everything was as far away as ever. But just as the scientists were about to give up hope, a new and startling discovery would be made. This would inspire them to begin their quest again and force them at last to confront their least popular idea: parallel universes. Horizon: Parallel Universe, BBC 2002
Super-Gravity: String Theory had displaced it. ibid.
Super-Gravity though had been convinced there were exactly eleven dimensions. ibid.
String Theory was in trouble. Its five different versions meant it couldn’t be the all-embracing theory Physics was looking for. Everything it seemed had been tried to save String Theory. Well, almost everything. In a final desperate move, the String Theorists tried adding one last thing to their cherished idea: they added the very thing they had spent a decade rubbishing – the 11th dimension. ibid.
The tiny invisible strings of String Theory were supposed to be the fundamental building blocks of all the matter in the universe. But now with the addition of the eleventh dimension they changed: they stretched and they combined. The astonishing conclusion was that all the matter in the universe was connected to one vast structure: a membrane. In effect our entire universe is a membrane. ibid.
When M Theory emerged, [Lisa] Randall and her colleagues wondered if it might provide the explanation – could gravity be leaking from our universe into the empty space of the eleventh dimension? Randall tried to calculate how gravity could leak from our membrane universe into empty space. But she couldn’t make it work. Then she heard the theory that there might be another membrane in the eleventh dimension. Now she had a really strange thought: what if gravity wasn’t leaking from our universe but to it? What if it came from that other universe? ibid.
Science had uncovered a puzzle. There was something missing. There wasn’t enough mass in the universe to provide the gravity to hold it together. And yet there the universe was – obviously not falling apart. But science had also provided an answer. Peebles and Ostriker’s Dark Matter made everything work. And thanks to Vera [Rubin] it was suddenly very popular. Horizon: Most of Our Universe is Missing, BBC 2006
There’s a problem with Newton’s Theory of Gravity: and that’s that is just allows us to predict how things move under its influence. It doesn’t say anything about why gravity exists. Or even how it works. Horizon: What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity? BBC 2008
What Einstein said was that the stronger the gravitational field the slower Time ticks; the weaker it is, the faster Time ticks. ibid.