Princeton University Press joins forces with de Rham for gravity exploration

Princeton University Press has acquired world English rights, including audio, to Claudia de Rham’s The Beauty of Falling.

The deal was made between Ingrid Gnerlich, publisher for sciences, and Jeff Shreve at The Science Factory. Publication is slated for spring of 2023.

From Newton’s notion of gravitational force to Einstein’s theory of relativity, to the speculative frontiers of contemporary physics, The Beauty of Falling "paints a vivid portrait of what we know and still do not know about gravity". De Rham will describe how our understanding of gravity continues to evolve, while interweaving the story of her personal and scientific trajectory— including setbacks and breakthroughs she experienced in challenging the claims of a generation of senior scientists to propose a modification of Einstein’s theory: "massive gravity".

De Rham is a professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London, a Simons Emmy Noether visiting fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and an adjunct professor of physics at Case Western Reserve University. She researches gravity, particle physics, and cosmology "in pursuit of a more fundamental description of the nature of our universe".

Gnerlich said: "Claudia’s writing is extraordinarily compelling, and she achieves a rare balance between the science and the more personal, autobiographical aspects of the narrative. The positive ways in which she portrays how science works — how her work fits into the entire enterprise and the challenges of making breakthroughs at the frontier of a discipline that has long been male-dominated – are just wonderful. This is an inspiring book in the making."