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The Man Who Mastered Gravity: A Twisted Tale of Space, Time and The Mysteries In Between
This is the biography of a man whose story cannot be told!
The Man Who Mastered Gravity is an intimate profile of Thomas Townsend Brown – a little-known scientist whose unorthodox ideas about electricity and gravity have made him the subject of decades of speculation and intrigue.
Brown developed his novel concepts while serving in the U.S. Navy through the 1930s. In the first months of World War II he was abruptly discharged – despite his consirable expertise in radio, radar, and mine sweeping.
Two weeks later he showed up at a top-secret aviation facility in Califoria. After that, Brown slipped behind a veil of secrecy from which he only occasionally blinks in and out of view. For example, in the 1950s, Brown formed NICAP, the first civilian organization dedicated to the study of unexplained 'aerial phenomena' (aka UFOs).
Though he is sometimes dismissed as a washout or a charlatan, The Man Who Mastered Gravity addresses the equal likelihood that Townsend Brown operated at the epicenter of a global web of classified 'black' projects – effectively acting as the 'Oppenheimer' in a deeply secret realm that persists to this day.
The Man Who Mastered Gravity is a cloak-and-dagger story of science and espionage, hidden technologies, forbidden romance and a secret society – all woven through pivotal events in the middle of the 20th century.
Buy The Man Who Mastered Gravity today, and enjoy this epic tale of lost science, hidden power, love, danger – and ideas will take you to the edge of modern science.
More info at
The Man Who Mastered Gravity is an intimate profile of Thomas Townsend Brown – a little-known scientist whose unorthodox ideas about electricity and gravity have made him the subject of decades of speculation and intrigue.
Brown developed his novel concepts while serving in the U.S. Navy through the 1930s. In the first months of World War II he was abruptly discharged – despite his consirable expertise in radio, radar, and mine sweeping.
Two weeks later he showed up at a top-secret aviation facility in Califoria. After that, Brown slipped behind a veil of secrecy from which he only occasionally blinks in and out of view. For example, in the 1950s, Brown formed NICAP, the first civilian organization dedicated to the study of unexplained 'aerial phenomena' (aka UFOs).
Though he is sometimes dismissed as a washout or a charlatan, The Man Who Mastered Gravity addresses the equal likelihood that Townsend Brown operated at the epicenter of a global web of classified 'black' projects – effectively acting as the 'Oppenheimer' in a deeply secret realm that persists to this day.
The Man Who Mastered Gravity is a cloak-and-dagger story of science and espionage, hidden technologies, forbidden romance and a secret society – all woven through pivotal events in the middle of the 20th century.
Buy The Man Who Mastered Gravity today, and enjoy this epic tale of lost science, hidden power, love, danger – and ideas will take you to the edge of modern science.
More info at
455 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 15, 2023
373 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 14, 2023
Holy Crap!?!
I'm not someone who generally reads non-fiction. I lean towards sci-fi, historical novels, and fantasy. But what I really love is a good story.
This book has it all; an intriguing story, incredulity straining science, and a whole lot of WTF is going on?!
I could not put the book down. And I will ponder aspects of the story for many years to come.
I'm not someone who generally reads non-fiction. I lean towards sci-fi, historical novels, and fantasy. But what I really love is a good story.
This book has it all; an intriguing story, incredulity straining science, and a whole lot of WTF is going on?!
I could not put the book down. And I will ponder aspects of the story for many years to come.
March 17, 2025
Schrodinger’s Genius?
I knew vaguely of Brown. Physicist, inventor, genius, eccentric, UFO follower, spy, scientist, etc. As a biography geek I was curious. As someone who is mentally challenged by physics I was ambivalent. As a pragmatist I was really unsure about the occult and CIA stuff.
It’s all there and it’s all compelling and fascinating. It’s spotty with unfillable lacunae in the time, places and outputs of Brown’s work. And that is why this works. That is the essence of Brown: was he or wasn’t he? You fill in the blanks.
A peripatetic narrative of what is possible to know, what is plausible to speculate and what is probable to infer and conclude this is a fascinating dive into the world of TT Brown, his fellow travelers, family and how to be a disruptive genius in a world of skeptics.
The physics stuff is simplified for dummies (ME) and while I don’t want to be quizzed on it, for the first time I sort of get it. And even almost understand Einstein’s theory of relativity. Thus, with this simple primer one can follow the circuitous and meandering path of Brown’s work.
For those of us who resist conspiracy theories, deep draft government secrecy and subterfuge and UFO sightings this account will invite you to open your mind. And today in the world of AI, the Muskifuckation of our very system of federal bureaucracy, social media distortions and interwebs survellience is it imperative that we all recognize we are Alice and we live in the rabbit hole of mis-, dis- and artificially created information. Our reality is a distortion field.
Oh. And there is some romance for those who need that.
I knew vaguely of Brown. Physicist, inventor, genius, eccentric, UFO follower, spy, scientist, etc. As a biography geek I was curious. As someone who is mentally challenged by physics I was ambivalent. As a pragmatist I was really unsure about the occult and CIA stuff.
It’s all there and it’s all compelling and fascinating. It’s spotty with unfillable lacunae in the time, places and outputs of Brown’s work. And that is why this works. That is the essence of Brown: was he or wasn’t he? You fill in the blanks.
A peripatetic narrative of what is possible to know, what is plausible to speculate and what is probable to infer and conclude this is a fascinating dive into the world of TT Brown, his fellow travelers, family and how to be a disruptive genius in a world of skeptics.
The physics stuff is simplified for dummies (ME) and while I don’t want to be quizzed on it, for the first time I sort of get it. And even almost understand Einstein’s theory of relativity. Thus, with this simple primer one can follow the circuitous and meandering path of Brown’s work.
For those of us who resist conspiracy theories, deep draft government secrecy and subterfuge and UFO sightings this account will invite you to open your mind. And today in the world of AI, the Muskifuckation of our very system of federal bureaucracy, social media distortions and interwebs survellience is it imperative that we all recognize we are Alice and we live in the rabbit hole of mis-, dis- and artificially created information. Our reality is a distortion field.
Oh. And there is some romance for those who need that.
December 13, 2024
The Man Who didn’t Master Timeline
I initially picked up ‘The Man Who Mastered Gravity’ after being captivated by Jesse Michaels’ YouTube channel, where I first learned about the enigmatic Townsend Brown. His research into anti-gravity and his mysterious, almost classified persona drew me in. I wanted this book to be great. However, my experience with it has been deeply frustrating.
After taking a break from the book, I decided to give it another shot. Now that I’m halfway through, I find myself struggling even more. A major issue is that half of this book feels irrelevant.
A Book About Townsend Brown—or Not?
Much of the book follows the story of Linda, Townsend Brown’s daughter. While I understand that Linda collaborated on the book and provided access to valuable insights, her narrative often takes over, leaving Brown himself as a secondary character. Imagine if I wrote a book about my father and started with, “My father loved bananas,” only to spend the next several pages describing my trip to the supermarket: what I bought (including bananas), the layout of the store, and my entire day. Would you feel like you were reading about my father? That’s exactly what happens here. I picked up this book to learn about him, not his daughter.
Beyond this, the book suffers from poor structure and editing. The author frequently veers off into irrelevant historical asides or extraneous details that have little to do with Brown’s story. For example, while discussing his time as a Navy lieutenant, we’re given a detailed account of Neville Chamberlain’s peace treaty with Germany—a tangent that adds nothing to Brown’s narrative.
The result is a disjointed reading experience, where the central story gets lost in the noise.
I’m currently halfway through the book, and I’m genuinely struggling to find the will to continue. While I hope the second half redeems itself, so far, this has been a difficult and disappointing read. If 80% of the book isn’t about Townsend Brown, can it really call itself his story?
Isn’t it ironic that when you search for The Man Who Mastered Gravity on Goodreads, you can also find another book titled The Summary of The Man Who Mastered Gravity: A Guide to Paul Schatzkin’s Book by Alan S. Matteson? It speaks volumes about the original book’s lack of coherence that someone felt the need to write an entirely separate summary to make sense of it. This meta-layer of interpretation highlights just how much of a struggle it is to follow the narrative in the original text.
Look, I’m not here to bash the author. It’s clear that a tremendous amount of effort went into this book. You can feel the frustration of the author as he grapples with the lack of records to confirm or corroborate Townsend Brown’s own accounts, and how difficult it must have been to align Brown’s autobiography with official documentation. The author undoubtedly made a monumental effort, submitting Freedom of Information Act requests and digging through countless sources to piece together the story. That dedication is admirable, and he should feel proud of the work he’s done. But despite all this effort, the lack of coherence undermines the final product. The author seems to have lost sight of the reader, forgetting that all this research needs to be structured in a way that engages and informs. Should I finish this book?
I initially picked up ‘The Man Who Mastered Gravity’ after being captivated by Jesse Michaels’ YouTube channel, where I first learned about the enigmatic Townsend Brown. His research into anti-gravity and his mysterious, almost classified persona drew me in. I wanted this book to be great. However, my experience with it has been deeply frustrating.
After taking a break from the book, I decided to give it another shot. Now that I’m halfway through, I find myself struggling even more. A major issue is that half of this book feels irrelevant.
A Book About Townsend Brown—or Not?
Much of the book follows the story of Linda, Townsend Brown’s daughter. While I understand that Linda collaborated on the book and provided access to valuable insights, her narrative often takes over, leaving Brown himself as a secondary character. Imagine if I wrote a book about my father and started with, “My father loved bananas,” only to spend the next several pages describing my trip to the supermarket: what I bought (including bananas), the layout of the store, and my entire day. Would you feel like you were reading about my father? That’s exactly what happens here. I picked up this book to learn about him, not his daughter.
Beyond this, the book suffers from poor structure and editing. The author frequently veers off into irrelevant historical asides or extraneous details that have little to do with Brown’s story. For example, while discussing his time as a Navy lieutenant, we’re given a detailed account of Neville Chamberlain’s peace treaty with Germany—a tangent that adds nothing to Brown’s narrative.
The result is a disjointed reading experience, where the central story gets lost in the noise.
I’m currently halfway through the book, and I’m genuinely struggling to find the will to continue. While I hope the second half redeems itself, so far, this has been a difficult and disappointing read. If 80% of the book isn’t about Townsend Brown, can it really call itself his story?
Isn’t it ironic that when you search for The Man Who Mastered Gravity on Goodreads, you can also find another book titled The Summary of The Man Who Mastered Gravity: A Guide to Paul Schatzkin’s Book by Alan S. Matteson? It speaks volumes about the original book’s lack of coherence that someone felt the need to write an entirely separate summary to make sense of it. This meta-layer of interpretation highlights just how much of a struggle it is to follow the narrative in the original text.
Look, I’m not here to bash the author. It’s clear that a tremendous amount of effort went into this book. You can feel the frustration of the author as he grapples with the lack of records to confirm or corroborate Townsend Brown’s own accounts, and how difficult it must have been to align Brown’s autobiography with official documentation. The author undoubtedly made a monumental effort, submitting Freedom of Information Act requests and digging through countless sources to piece together the story. That dedication is admirable, and he should feel proud of the work he’s done. But despite all this effort, the lack of coherence undermines the final product. The author seems to have lost sight of the reader, forgetting that all this research needs to be structured in a way that engages and informs. Should I finish this book?
August 20, 2024
Hard to overstate how wondrous and intriguing this biography is. This is the story of a confusingly obscure figure, T.T. Brown, what is known about him, what is claimed about him and a huge amount that is classified and redacted which only adds to the intrigue.
T.T. Brown is on one hand, an inventor of sharper image's bladeless fan and a stereo. A man who lived adventurously but with constant financial struggles and his name associated with seeming science impossibilities and stories of being discredited. Yet, on the other hand, he was employed for decades by the government and weapons contractors whose top secret technologies still utilize his patents for a technology basis that should not work according to standard understanding of physics.
The legends of T.T. Brown's life is his obsession with anti gravity technology and the conflicting reports that he cracked it. Alongside other mysteries. Did he master it? Was he on the track of time travel? Did he discover a parallel universe? Did anything come from his obsession with UFOs and was he able to reproduce a flying saucer?
Fantastic stories too amazing for many to take at face value, and yet so many corroborating details. For a life filled with gaps and open questions Schazkin tells a deeply interesting story.
T.T. Brown is on one hand, an inventor of sharper image's bladeless fan and a stereo. A man who lived adventurously but with constant financial struggles and his name associated with seeming science impossibilities and stories of being discredited. Yet, on the other hand, he was employed for decades by the government and weapons contractors whose top secret technologies still utilize his patents for a technology basis that should not work according to standard understanding of physics.
The legends of T.T. Brown's life is his obsession with anti gravity technology and the conflicting reports that he cracked it. Alongside other mysteries. Did he master it? Was he on the track of time travel? Did he discover a parallel universe? Did anything come from his obsession with UFOs and was he able to reproduce a flying saucer?
Fantastic stories too amazing for many to take at face value, and yet so many corroborating details. For a life filled with gaps and open questions Schazkin tells a deeply interesting story.
December 16, 2023
As supposed biography fairly ridiculous. The plot is more full of holes than Swiss cheese. With a lot of side irrelevancies. The non linear time sequencing is confusing and adds nothing. Some interesting and detailed historical accounts here and there - but I don't know how much is true since so much isn't. Some good basic science as well, which rapidly morphs into hokum. And if you can't tell the difference what can I say.
As science fiction a bit better. But a good conspiracy theory has to be not only vaguely plausible but also in some ways novel. This uses all the standard tropes. Hints of Secret Nazi science. Antigravity. UFOs, Secret Societies. And a whiff of time travel. All the usual fringe stuff. Ho hum.
As science fiction a bit better. But a good conspiracy theory has to be not only vaguely plausible but also in some ways novel. This uses all the standard tropes. Hints of Secret Nazi science. Antigravity. UFOs, Secret Societies. And a whiff of time travel. All the usual fringe stuff. Ho hum.
August 31, 2023
The book is about the life of Thomas Townsend Brown. From a young man who study Physics into his late life . A American inventor whose research into odd electrical effects led him to believe he had discovered a connection between strong electric fields and gravity. ( a type of antigravity effect) . I will admit my knowledge of Physics is limited. Think this would be a great book for one just getting their footing in the field.
I was not impressed with the writer adding the f-bomb which really made me not take him to serous. If you going to write a professional book in a field of study show me you have that intellect.
I was not impressed with the writer adding the f-bomb which really made me not take him to serous. If you going to write a professional book in a field of study show me you have that intellect.
December 1, 2025
Very Heady Stuff
So much of this book is inuendo is secret stuff, code word for classified. That is understandable. It seems to me that with all the talk of UAP's and Tik Tocs, that these are applications of Townsend Brown's incredible work.
The difficulty I had with the book was in it not being chronological. I had a great deal of frustration with confusion in that regard. It would have made a lot more sense to have written it chronologically, as that is how our brains and our reality works. Because it was written in such a scattered format, I gave it a four, when it would rightfully be a five star book.
So much of this book is inuendo is secret stuff, code word for classified. That is understandable. It seems to me that with all the talk of UAP's and Tik Tocs, that these are applications of Townsend Brown's incredible work.
The difficulty I had with the book was in it not being chronological. I had a great deal of frustration with confusion in that regard. It would have made a lot more sense to have written it chronologically, as that is how our brains and our reality works. Because it was written in such a scattered format, I gave it a four, when it would rightfully be a five star book.
February 24, 2024
I liked this book but it was much less a science (science-history) book and much more a spy novel. It was the story of an inventor and the cover his life provided to the supposed invention of technology to control the effect of gravity. Did that happen? There's no evidence it did. But there's a lot of interesting characters and the book is very reasonably written and easy to read. Enjoy it if you will but look elsewhere for quantum inertia physics books that might actually give you some insight into the universe!
March 22, 2024
I really enjoyed this. I did drop one star because of how the timeline was presented in a non-linear fashion. It just made it confusing at each chapter to try to fit the story line together. Eg: We Lost Morgan, why did that chapter appear in that order? Anyway, beyond that I appreciated the depth of characters presented to give a fullness to the bio. And the depth and scope of the experiences, persons, and subjects that touched Brown's life, wow! I need to say thank you to Linda for all the information she brought to the narrative.
December 16, 2023
Awesome
This is an incredible story. I have little doubt that most, if not all of it is true. The effort to put the story in book form is outstanding. The research involved involved the collaboration of many, and I thank all of them, especially the author for it.
I would recommend this book to anyone, and I already have. It will leave you with some laughter, possibly a few tears, and I doubt any reader would find it boring.
This is an incredible story. I have little doubt that most, if not all of it is true. The effort to put the story in book form is outstanding. The research involved involved the collaboration of many, and I thank all of them, especially the author for it.
I would recommend this book to anyone, and I already have. It will leave you with some laughter, possibly a few tears, and I doubt any reader would find it boring.
November 26, 2023
Borderline entertaining.
It seems the entire book is simply a mix of possible involvements, quasi-factual reports, circumstantial evidence, and maybes.
It seems the entire book is simply a mix of possible involvements, quasi-factual reports, circumstantial evidence, and maybes.
August 16, 2024
Why the author felt it necessary to write a biography about a guy who was obviously a scammer I'll never know.
January 3, 2025
Is it true or just entertainment?
I can't tell but I sure would like to know. Many things ring true but that's no doubt deliberate craft.
I can't tell but I sure would like to know. Many things ring true but that's no doubt deliberate craft.
February 15, 2025
It was an impossible task to write the story of a man who doesn't really exist on paper. Happy Paul gave it a shot. Fascinating work.
November 27, 2025
The story is interesting but the author at times writes like it's a novel which I could have done without. But the facts are fascinating...Also, he hired a terrible proofreader.
December 18, 2023
This story is amazing and I can't put it down. It has all the characters that would make for a pretty entertaining blockbuster movie! Highly recommend. The only negative side is trying to follow the timeline, I think it jumps a bit too much instead of going in chronological order. Makes it hard to know what's happening when.
March 31, 2023
Paul Schatzkin delves into the science, history, mystery, and lore of scientist T. Townsend Brown’s life and work in relativity and gravity. The book is as much a scientific exploration as it is a study in life. Woven through the narrative is Schatzkin’s own memoir of discovery and intrigue, caught in the web of the secrets of Townsend’s work and the family who protected them. The writing is as entertaining as it is informative. The author’s passion for the subject uncovered, as he called it, “a twisted tale of space, time, and the mysteries in between.” It is mind-expanding.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews