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CHARGE: Why Does Gravity Rule?
Frank Close delves into fundamental particles and forces to find clues to a deep unsolved mystery of why is matter neutral?
Human beings have long been aware of the electric and magnetic forces around us, from the electrostatic charge built up by rubbing amber with fur, to the pull of the lodestone, and scientific investigation showed that the two are intimately connected, as electromagnetism. Lightning shows how devastating electricity can be in nature, while humans learned to exploit the flow of negatively charged electrons that make up an electric current. In the early part of the 20th century, the experiments of Ernest Rutherford showed that at the heart of atoms lies a positively charged nucleus. The positive charge comes from protons. Atoms are neutral because the charges of the electron and proton cancel out. And that enables the much weaker force of gravity - always attractive - to dominate at large scales, building planets, stars, and galaxies. Things would have been very different, had the charges not cancelled.
As far as we know, the charges of the proton and electron are opposite and exactly equal, even though the proton is far bigger, and composed of three quarks tightly bound within it, while the electron is a fundamental particle. But why are they equal? This is one of the deepest unresolved puzzles of fundamental physics, and forms the driving force of this book. To explore the clues we have, Frank Close takes us on a journey into the quantum subatomic world of particles. He describes the strong and weak forces that operate alongside electromagnetism at these short ranges, and the colour and flavour charges that drive them, as well as the parallels between them, giving tantalizing hints of a deeper unity of all forces that is the dream of grand unification theories. Seeking an answer to why matter is neutral brings us to fundamental forces and particles, the Standard Model, the recently discovered Higgs boson, and the implications of grand unification for the stability of matter. Within
this compact volume, Close packs in an extraordinarily rich account of our current understanding and the efforts of the latest ambitious experiments to probe further, and test theoretical possibilities such as the decay of protons.
Human beings have long been aware of the electric and magnetic forces around us, from the electrostatic charge built up by rubbing amber with fur, to the pull of the lodestone, and scientific investigation showed that the two are intimately connected, as electromagnetism. Lightning shows how devastating electricity can be in nature, while humans learned to exploit the flow of negatively charged electrons that make up an electric current. In the early part of the 20th century, the experiments of Ernest Rutherford showed that at the heart of atoms lies a positively charged nucleus. The positive charge comes from protons. Atoms are neutral because the charges of the electron and proton cancel out. And that enables the much weaker force of gravity - always attractive - to dominate at large scales, building planets, stars, and galaxies. Things would have been very different, had the charges not cancelled.
As far as we know, the charges of the proton and electron are opposite and exactly equal, even though the proton is far bigger, and composed of three quarks tightly bound within it, while the electron is a fundamental particle. But why are they equal? This is one of the deepest unresolved puzzles of fundamental physics, and forms the driving force of this book. To explore the clues we have, Frank Close takes us on a journey into the quantum subatomic world of particles. He describes the strong and weak forces that operate alongside electromagnetism at these short ranges, and the colour and flavour charges that drive them, as well as the parallels between them, giving tantalizing hints of a deeper unity of all forces that is the dream of grand unification theories. Seeking an answer to why matter is neutral brings us to fundamental forces and particles, the Standard Model, the recently discovered Higgs boson, and the implications of grand unification for the stability of matter. Within
this compact volume, Close packs in an extraordinarily rich account of our current understanding and the efforts of the latest ambitious experiments to probe further, and test theoretical possibilities such as the decay of protons.
- GenresSciencePhysicsNonfiction
176 pages, Hardcover
Published August 23, 2024
35 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Frank Close
50 books192 followersFrancis Edwin Close (Arabic: فرانك كلوس)
In addition to his scientific research, he is known for his lectures and writings making science intelligible to a wider audience.
From Oxford he went to Stanford University in California for two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow on the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In 1973 he went to the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire and then to CERN in Switzerland from 1973–5. He joined the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire in 1975 as a research physicist and was latterly Head of Theoretical Physics Division from 1991. He headed the communication and public education activities at CERN from 1997 to 2000. From 2001, he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Birmingham from 1996–2002.
Close lists his recreations as writing, singing, travel, squash and Real tennis, and he is a member of Harwell Squash Club.
In addition to his scientific research, he is known for his lectures and writings making science intelligible to a wider audience.
From Oxford he went to Stanford University in California for two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow on the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In 1973 he went to the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire and then to CERN in Switzerland from 1973–5. He joined the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire in 1975 as a research physicist and was latterly Head of Theoretical Physics Division from 1991. He headed the communication and public education activities at CERN from 1997 to 2000. From 2001, he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Birmingham from 1996–2002.
Close lists his recreations as writing, singing, travel, squash and Real tennis, and he is a member of Harwell Squash Club.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 14, 2024
Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places, but I find it’s difficult to identify truly satisfactory science books. Medicine is something of an exception, but even looking at recommendations appearing in scientific journals reveals mostly books written by journalists about some headline-grabbing science, not books written by scientists about their area of expertise. That might be adequate for the interested lay reader, or for books about subjects to which I am just being introduced, but it leaves me hesitant to add these sorts of books about topics which I have studied in some detail to my reading list. Hence my excitement when I came across Charge, a physics book written by a physicist – it didn’t even have a chance to collect virtual dust on my to-be-read list.
The last comparable, high-quality, intellectually stimulating book on physics I can remember reading, that wasn’t a textbook or a scientific paper of some kind, is Brian Greene’s Fabric of the Cosmos, which made the leap to television documentary…over a decade ago, now? At the time, I was struggling with grasping the basics of the physics the book addresses, picking up bits and pieces from scientific papers but failing to assemble them into a cohesive comprehension. Fabric of the Cosmos helped me make that leap and broadened my mind with new ways of thinking about the universe in which we live. Many of the concepts which I rely upon regularly were first made clear to me in that reading.
However, Greene’s work is more of a survey text, exploring a multitude of ideas in physics on scales grand and miniscule. Large swathes of its content are also growing dated, now, which is why I haven’t reread it recently, and why I hesitate to recommend it to people anymore. Charge is a different kind of book, more focused than Fabric of the Cosmos, but it fills a similar role, and it combines the same kind of scientific rigor and prose-based approachability. They say you lose a significant portion of your audience with every equation you include, and Close, like Greene, does an admirable job of explaining complex physical ideas in words, without resorting to mathematics.
Don’t let the full title fool you (as it did me). Charge: Why Does Gravity Rule is not a book about the gravitational force and why the gravitational force is the weakest of the fundamental forces and yet is dominant and large scales. Or at least, not directly – it hardly discusses gravity at all, probably because gravity remains even more of a mystery than the other fundamental forces. Instead, Close introduces us to charge in all its varieties, colors, and flavors, and by implication addresses why gravity prevails. He does this by asking why and challenging what many of us probably consider fundamental truths about the world. For instance, why is the atom neutral? The surface level answer is because the proton and electron charges electrostatically cancel, but why are the proton and electron charges precisely opposite of each other? Why is the strong force just strong enough to overcome the electrostatic repulsion of collected protons over short distances? It turns out there are no simple answers to these why questions, but investigating them has opened up new understandings of physics and the world around us.
To explain a concept with a lot of assumptions is easy enough – you can do it by analogy, and handwave over the deeper matters to which we don’t have answers – but to explain a concept without making those assumptions is far more difficult. You can encounter linguistic limitations, where we simply don’t have the vocabulary to convey the results the data and the math are giving us. Close handles these difficulties well, by explaining the experiments and connecting the extreme scales of particle physics to phenomenon with which readers might be familiar. By spending significant time discussing electromagnetism, he sets up the other fundamental forces – the strong and weak nuclear forces – to be discussed by analogy with electromagnetism.
After walking the reader through the best current understanding of the three non-gravitational fundamental forces, Close turns his attention to the theoretical and the cutting edge of experimental physics. Specifically, this means discussing grand unified theories (GUTs), and the idea that the fundamental forces behave like a single, unified force at sufficiently high energies, such as those of the Planck scale. Here, Close might do an arguably better job than Greene in continuing to present a steady, objective explanation, as Greene’s books can sometimes become a little over-excited about certain theories which may or may not have the experimental and mathematical backing to support such enthusiasm. However, he almost is too objective in his explanations, since he fails to go into much detail on any of the theories mentioned.
It is a pleasant change to find a nonfiction book which is heavy on nonfiction and light on narrative, unlike many recent nonfiction books, which seem more interested in providing narrative and anecdote than facts and analysis (like, for instance, the highly disappointing Optimal Illusions). If Charge has a weakness (other than it being shorter than I would have liked), it is its failure to answer its framing question about the role of gravity, or even address it directly. Acknowledging this is not intended to be a book that directly addresses gravity, it would still have been beneficial to tie the analysis back to the exploration of why gravity dominates, based on the dynamics of the various other fundamental forces.
This book is not supposed to present an argument, though, so that is more a problem perhaps with the title than it is a problem with the text itself. While it was helpful to have some background in these topics going into the book, I do not think it is necessary, and someone with only a basic understanding of physics from, say, a high school level should be able to make sense of this book with some mental effort. Charge is one of the best science books I’ve read in a long time, and I highly encourage you to give it a read soon.
July 25, 2025
The writer starts out fairly strongly. He does a nice job leading the reader through the first level of the quantum world. Short, sweet and clear enough, at least for me.
Here he lays the groundwork for what seems to be the main theme of the book. There’s an “electrical symmetry” that lies at the heart of the atomic world and provides for its stability. By symmetry, he refers to the perfect balance between the negatively charged electrons and the positively charged protons.* Close is referring to unlike, +/-, charges. Without this, he says that electrons would collapse into the nucleus**
He then adds this: “The picture of the atom as an electrical analogue of a miniature Solar System with negatively charged planetary electrons whirling around that compact central nucleus was very popular….but it comes with a profound warning: It is wrong, or, at least incomplete. The laws of Newton and Einstein, applicable to the motion of macroscopic objects, are not fundamental but have emerged from deeper laws that the innards of atoms make manifest.” I’m thinking that this is where the subtitle of this book becomes relevant. Somehow, electrical charges at the atomic level explain, fundamentally, how gravity works.
This will be interesting I thought. Close’s statement is on page 23, so there’s most of the rest of the book to look for how this is the case, taking Close’s own words, “This is how,” to heart. But if he made that connection I didn’t get it as the rest of the book got into the ever deeper microscopic world, with so much detail that I quickly got lost. Though I suppose this is all good for the physics’ student, it was into the weeds for me, and obscured how Close saw the connection of the atomic world to gravity.
The closest he came was in his discussion of Bondi who apparently argued that electrical asymmetry resulted in some sort of anti-gravity (“electro-magnetic repulsion) effect to explain cosmic expansion per Hubble’s findings. Close then says that maybe Bondi didn’t get it right in the particulars though at some level, with some reinterpretation, Bondi might have been onto something. Close also references the inverse square law, that pertains to gravitational and atomic phenomena, and attraction (gravity, unlike charges) and repulsion (like charges), and that both of these also play a role. Skipping the detail, I suppose though that there's a broad-brushed argument that unlike charges allow for the stability of matter, and that is what gravity works on: unlike charges between the electron and proton keeping their distance (their orbits) per the inverse square law is akin to mutual gravitational attraction that keeps gravitational bodies separate per the inverse square law. That's taking a crack at what Close was putting forward in this book.
I didn’t see how Close reconciles his view of gravity as attractive, with Einstein’s view that gravity is not a force (hence, not an attractive force) at all.
*There’s this little dance going on at the heart of matter between jumping electrons in “orbits” and the innards of the nucleus. For example, when neutrons, playing a key sidekick role, morph into protons, that results in an increased + charge that is then countered by a corresponding change in the electron (energy is released) to preserve the +/- balance-symmetry (or something like that). Close writes that “when a neutral neutron becomes a positively charged proton, the electrical charge overall is balanced by the emission of an electron.” ”Nature,” he goes on to say, “seeks stability and does so by reducing the energy in an unstable configuration….Nature redistributes the energy, minimizing the amount in the previously unstable configuration and emitting the difference in some form).
**Still, I thought, as a layperson, that unlike charges result in a merger and why wouldn’t that apply here (something to do with electron “orbits” and staying in their respective lanes. (Or, since like charges repel, why wouldn’t that keep - electrons separated from + protons.)
Here he lays the groundwork for what seems to be the main theme of the book. There’s an “electrical symmetry” that lies at the heart of the atomic world and provides for its stability. By symmetry, he refers to the perfect balance between the negatively charged electrons and the positively charged protons.* Close is referring to unlike, +/-, charges. Without this, he says that electrons would collapse into the nucleus**
He then adds this: “The picture of the atom as an electrical analogue of a miniature Solar System with negatively charged planetary electrons whirling around that compact central nucleus was very popular….but it comes with a profound warning: It is wrong, or, at least incomplete. The laws of Newton and Einstein, applicable to the motion of macroscopic objects, are not fundamental but have emerged from deeper laws that the innards of atoms make manifest.” I’m thinking that this is where the subtitle of this book becomes relevant. Somehow, electrical charges at the atomic level explain, fundamentally, how gravity works.
This will be interesting I thought. Close’s statement is on page 23, so there’s most of the rest of the book to look for how this is the case, taking Close’s own words, “This is how,” to heart. But if he made that connection I didn’t get it as the rest of the book got into the ever deeper microscopic world, with so much detail that I quickly got lost. Though I suppose this is all good for the physics’ student, it was into the weeds for me, and obscured how Close saw the connection of the atomic world to gravity.
The closest he came was in his discussion of Bondi who apparently argued that electrical asymmetry resulted in some sort of anti-gravity (“electro-magnetic repulsion) effect to explain cosmic expansion per Hubble’s findings. Close then says that maybe Bondi didn’t get it right in the particulars though at some level, with some reinterpretation, Bondi might have been onto something. Close also references the inverse square law, that pertains to gravitational and atomic phenomena, and attraction (gravity, unlike charges) and repulsion (like charges), and that both of these also play a role. Skipping the detail, I suppose though that there's a broad-brushed argument that unlike charges allow for the stability of matter, and that is what gravity works on: unlike charges between the electron and proton keeping their distance (their orbits) per the inverse square law is akin to mutual gravitational attraction that keeps gravitational bodies separate per the inverse square law. That's taking a crack at what Close was putting forward in this book.
I didn’t see how Close reconciles his view of gravity as attractive, with Einstein’s view that gravity is not a force (hence, not an attractive force) at all.
*There’s this little dance going on at the heart of matter between jumping electrons in “orbits” and the innards of the nucleus. For example, when neutrons, playing a key sidekick role, morph into protons, that results in an increased + charge that is then countered by a corresponding change in the electron (energy is released) to preserve the +/- balance-symmetry (or something like that). Close writes that “when a neutral neutron becomes a positively charged proton, the electrical charge overall is balanced by the emission of an electron.” ”Nature,” he goes on to say, “seeks stability and does so by reducing the energy in an unstable configuration….Nature redistributes the energy, minimizing the amount in the previously unstable configuration and emitting the difference in some form).
**Still, I thought, as a layperson, that unlike charges result in a merger and why wouldn’t that apply here (something to do with electron “orbits” and staying in their respective lanes. (Or, since like charges repel, why wouldn’t that keep - electrons separated from + protons.)
January 3, 2025
I have given this score from the perspective of a layperson, so it's possible that experts on the subject will consider it a better work. This book is not for the layperson, even if familiar with the basic elements of physics (classical and quantum). To be noted, many of the book's parts pose questions that not even the author is sure of the answer, so this is inevitably a hard to digest book since several of its arguments are based on not well-known phenomena (clearer books typically arrive later when a subject is well understood).
And no, the book is not about gravity despite its subtitle, as gravity's "dominance" is only a corollary of the balance between charges in the universe (the true topic of the book).
It's somewhat possible to grasp the main insight of how curious and unlikely (?) is the perfect balance and connection between charges in different (and sometimes seemingly unrelated) particles. However, it's complicated to have a good sense of it, since the explanations of different types of charges, particles, and forces are many times not properly explained and rely on concepts whose understanding is taken for granted.
At least the book is not very long, so I got a few interesting insights out of it, although I cannot say I fully understood them. If you're looking to get a better grasp of physics as a layperson, you're probably better reading something else first.
And no, the book is not about gravity despite its subtitle, as gravity's "dominance" is only a corollary of the balance between charges in the universe (the true topic of the book).
It's somewhat possible to grasp the main insight of how curious and unlikely (?) is the perfect balance and connection between charges in different (and sometimes seemingly unrelated) particles. However, it's complicated to have a good sense of it, since the explanations of different types of charges, particles, and forces are many times not properly explained and rely on concepts whose understanding is taken for granted.
At least the book is not very long, so I got a few interesting insights out of it, although I cannot say I fully understood them. If you're looking to get a better grasp of physics as a layperson, you're probably better reading something else first.
December 28, 2024
Charge starts off well. Frank clearly explains experiments that define the structure of the atom in historical sequence. He separates out mass and energy of static and moving particles. I had a few aha is that how it works moments. Then I lost it, or frankly, Frank lost me. Partly this was because his writing style is quaintly old fashioned but mostly because he assumes that the reader can understand or work out what all the different terms mean. Then I realised a lot of the terms bandied about were synonyms for other terms. This was made harder as some of the sentence structure was wanting. Sentences and themes simply ended without resolution. A whole lot could have been said about lightning and why it forms (this is promised), for example, however its inclusion fizzes out. Maybe Frank picks it up later? Way too late for me. Perhaps a glossary would've helped along with some diagrams? Then Frank's ideas disappeared down rabbit holes with imagined possibilities as yet unproven and unlikely to be, which begs the question why include imaginative musings? By chapter 3 I realised this book is not for me nor the lay person, but aimed at people already aware of what ever it is Frank is trying to explain. I got no sense that the book was about charge and it definitely wasn't about gravity. I think it was about the atom.
March 1, 2025
A Fascinating Dive into the Concept of Charge
Frank Close’s Charge is an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of one of physics’ most fundamental yet often overlooked concepts. With his signature clarity and deep expertise, Close unpacks the nature of electric charge, its role in shaping the universe, and the historical journey of scientists who sought to understand it.
What sets this book apart is its ability to balance accessibility with depth. Close masterfully explains complex ideas—such as quantum electrodynamics and the interplay between charge and force—without overwhelming the reader. His storytelling brings to life key figures like Faraday and Maxwell, making the scientific discoveries feel both personal and profound.
For anyone with an interest in physics, from casual readers to those with a more technical background, Charge is a rewarding read. It sheds light on a concept that underpins everything from atoms to the cosmos, reminding us of the elegance and mystery of the natural world. Highly recommended!
Frank Close’s Charge is an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of one of physics’ most fundamental yet often overlooked concepts. With his signature clarity and deep expertise, Close unpacks the nature of electric charge, its role in shaping the universe, and the historical journey of scientists who sought to understand it.
What sets this book apart is its ability to balance accessibility with depth. Close masterfully explains complex ideas—such as quantum electrodynamics and the interplay between charge and force—without overwhelming the reader. His storytelling brings to life key figures like Faraday and Maxwell, making the scientific discoveries feel both personal and profound.
For anyone with an interest in physics, from casual readers to those with a more technical background, Charge is a rewarding read. It sheds light on a concept that underpins everything from atoms to the cosmos, reminding us of the elegance and mystery of the natural world. Highly recommended!
March 9, 2025
Not for non-spicialists
I picked up this book expecting an accessible popular science read for non-specialists. The free Kindle preview and the first few chapters reinforced that impression. However, as I got deeper into the book, I found much of it difficult to follow given my background. While I did learn quite a bit (with the help of ChatGPT), the experience wasn’t as enjoyable as I had hoped.
I picked up this book expecting an accessible popular science read for non-specialists. The free Kindle preview and the first few chapters reinforced that impression. However, as I got deeper into the book, I found much of it difficult to follow given my background. While I did learn quite a bit (with the help of ChatGPT), the experience wasn’t as enjoyable as I had hoped.
December 8, 2024
Informative and Readable
I have been doing a lot of reading lately on Feynman, Wheeler and others. This is less mathematical and more digestible. I feel that I have gained comprehension that will help me when I dive back into the math. Highly recommended!
I have been doing a lot of reading lately on Feynman, Wheeler and others. This is less mathematical and more digestible. I feel that I have gained comprehension that will help me when I dive back into the math. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews