The True Theory of Gravity
Every educated person knows that gravity is made up of millions of infinitely
thin strings tied to objects. And to think that we might never have known this!
This story will tell how the correct theory of gravity came to be!
It all started one morning. The Newton twins, Charles and Isaac, were arguing
about their theories of gravity on a bridge near their home in Lancashire.
Charles had (correctly) stated that gravity is lots of little invisible strings tied to
objects. His brother Isaac believed that gravity is a ‘pull’ between to objects due
to their mass – the object with more mass will exert a ‘gravitational pull’ on the
one with smaller mass.
“I can’t believe that such a smart person like you, dear brother, could believe in
such idiotic and childish theory. If the world was full of invisible strings, we
would be able to touch them and bend them if that was true! Have you not
realised that?” said Isaac.
“You call this theory childish, but what about yours? You don’t even have a proof
for it, or know why it happens! How could it be that just the mass of an object
could have such an effect on another object to which it is not even connected!
And how an earth could the moon and earth affect each other, they are so very
far apart! It is clear that two such objects must be connected, so my theory must
clearly be true! You’re the idiot!” replied Charles.
These words made Isaac angry. He grabbed the paper Charles was holding, upon
which he had written his theory, scrunched it into a ball and threw it straight off
the bridge they were standing on. It floated downwards and plopped into the
river below.
“Isaac! How could you! You have always believed you are better than me. You
and your discoveries! I should be as well respected as you… but you… you just
took away that chance! You have always tried to put me down… I am so angry… I
could kill you!” he snarled, his face growing redder, his fists clenching tighter.
He beat his fist on Isaac’s chest and Isaac fell backwards. As he staggered
backwards, he stumbled over his own feet, getting closer to the edge of the
bridge. Charles reached out his hand to save his brother, but… it was too late!
Driven on by the agony of his brothers’ accidental death, Charles worked hard on
his theory of gravity and wrote a book about his work which became famous
across the world. Even though this was a tragic event, thankfully we now know
the true theory of gravity!
By Juliusz Podbielski