b'Book ReviewThe hunt for Earth gravity: A history of gravity measurement from Galileo to the 21st Centuryin the 16th and 17th centuries, Chapterand no endnotes. This circumstance 2 jumps to the 1960s and is out ofsuggests that all information is presented sequence, because its aim is to giveas part of the text - or in figure captions.readers an early feeling for where the book is heading. It is, in fact, aOne concern I have with this book is description of the trials and tribulationsthe wide scope of the subject matter, of doing field work in PNG (with somewhich spans six centuries, and hence the political history added). type of reader to which it will appeal. However, it is possible to consider the Chapters 3 to 7 revert to the 16th to 19thbook as being made up of three distinct centuries with a history of the use ofsections that can be read independently. pendulums involving Copernicus, Brahe,In my opinion these sections are roughly: Kepler and later Newton and Hooke, plus athe early history of pendulums from very interesting portrayal of Bouguer whothe 16th to 19th century and their use lent his name to one of the correctionsin measuring the (gravity) shape of the made to gravity measurements. ThoseEarth; the non-pendulum instruments interested in history will find this sectionof the 20th century; and, descriptions of informative and entertaining. Foractual field surveys from the authors example, one learns that Tycho Brahes elkown memories, which, in addition to from his private zoo got drunk one night,appearing in Chapter 2, are interspersed fell down some stairs, broke its leg andin other chapters in the second section.had to be destroyed. The end of Chapter 7, The Pitfalls of Pendulums, explains whyThe publishers description of the book pendulums were abandoned in favourclaims, for the more general readers, that By Dr John Milsomof the more accurate and quicker waysthe book provides insightsthat most Springer International Publishing AG, partof measuring gravity. In fact, around halfwould not even have known existed of Springer Nature 2018, 416 pp. of the book is devoted to the subject ofand that for practitioners, it provides ISBN 978-3-319-74958-7, pendulums which, as a measure of gravity,a historical background that is not ISBN 978-3-319-74959-4 (eBook) https:// are now literally history. available elsewhere (sic). Of course, this is doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74959-4 a certain amount of publishers hype with Chapters 8 to 13 are about developmentsclaims that are yet to be proved. However, Library of Congress Control Number:in the 20th and 21st centuries, fromit is apparent in the Preface that the 2018934918 torsion balance gradiometers to modernauthor is also concerned with the type of Dr John Milsom was awarded a PhD inground and airborne gravity meters andreadership and, in fact, claims suitability geophysics in 1971, whilst a lecturerairborne gradiometers. for a wide readership with, If this book at Imperial College, London. His thesisChapter 14 is a final section of sevenhas any readers, they may be people who was entitled: The structure of EasternCodas, included for those who notknow something about physics but little Papua, an approach via gravity and otheronly feel comfortable with graphs andgeology, or people who know geology geophysical methods. Milsom worked inequations, but would like to read aboutbut not physics, or people with only a Australia and PNG in the 1960s and somethem. The implication is that somelaymans knowledge of either. We also of his experiences in those countries arereaders may choose not to read any or alllearn that Milsom is writing for people recounted in this book on the hunt forof this chapter. who know little about the Earths gravity gravity. Milsom is also the author of Fieldfield and that all aspects of measurement Geophysics, a 304 page paperback nowAs well as the fourteen chapters, there ismethods are being covered.in its 4th edition that explains optimuman Introduction not shown in the Table ofWhere does an exploration geophysicist, ways to conduct various geophysicalContents, but numbering five pages andespecially one experienced in gravity methods in the field, with detailedproviding some fundamentals related tomethods, stand in this? Is he or she to descriptions of current instrumentation.the measurement of gravity such as unitsread only the history section, as the It is a text book for university geophysicsused and typical values. publishers suggest? Oddly, the Preface departments, including the departmentIn general, the figures are well chosenbegins with disparaging remarks at the University of Sydney. However, hisand the number of figures is adequate.about exploration geophysicists, but latest book is definitely not a text book.Excluding Chapter 14 as special, there arehopefully tongue-in-cheek. They are For one thing, it is written in a casual,an average of six figures per each chapterdistinguished from proper physicists as folksy style. One of many examples ofwith an average chapter length of 27people of uncouth lifestyles and suspect this style is, It was into this swamp ofpages. However, some figure captionsintelligence who abusegravityby accusation and counter-accusation thatare very long. The caption to Figure 3.4 istreating it as a mere tool for looking Kepler splashed puppy-like, with his tailone of the longest, and includes over 130at rocks. Such people, we are told, are wagging. words. In some cases the caption givesapparently not concerned with the more After an introductory Chapter 1 aboutinformation not referred to in the text.recent understanding of gravity courtesy Galileo and his weight drop experimentsThere are a small number of footnotesof Einstein and others since, and the 41 PREVIEW AUGUST 2019'