Archive for Misner Thorne & Wheeler

R.I.P. Charles W. Misner (1932-2023)

Posted in R.I.P., Uncategorized with tags , , , on July 26, 2023 by telescoper
Charles Misner, pictured in 2016. (Picture credit: Maia Zewert)

Earlier this year I wrote a blog post pointing out that the classic textbook Gravitation by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler (above) is 50 years old this year. MTW (as it is usually known) was first published in 1973, and has has now been reprinted 24 times.

I was therefore saddened to learn that the eminent theoretical physicist Charles W. Misner, the first author of this famous tome, passed away a couple of days ago, on 24th July 2023, at the age of 91. A full obituary of Prof. Misner can be found here.

Rest in peace, Charles W. Misner (1932-2023)

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Fifty Years of Gravitation

Posted in The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on January 5, 2023 by telescoper

I was surprised to discover, a couple of days ago, that the classic textbook Gravitation by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler is 50 years old this year. MTW as it is usually known was first published in 1973, and has has now been reprinted 24 times. I bought my copy (shown above) about 30 years ago. I’ve often joked that this tome is so hefty that it not only allows one to read about Gravitation but also to experience its practical effects!

This anniversary reminds me that there was a competition running at ITP2022 last year that involved holding out a copy of the book  in one hand at arm’s length for as long as possible following the instructions below:

The winner of the competition was John Brennan of Maynooth University, with a time of 3 minutes and 29 seconds. If you can lay your hands on a copy of MTW you can try to do better!

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Gravity Competition!

Posted in The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , on May 26, 2022 by telescoper

There’s a competition running at ITP2022 that involves holding out a copy of the book Gravitation by Misner Thorne & Wheeler in one hand at arm’s length for as long as you can following the instructions below:

The current record is an impressive three minutes! How well can you do?

UPDATE: The winner of the competition was John Brennan, formerly of Maynooth University, with a time of 3 minutes and 29 seconds!

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