Gravity's Ghost and Big Dog: Scientific Discovery and Social Analysis in the Twenty-First Century

Gravity's Ghost and Big Dog examines scientific efforts to detect gravitational waves—ripples in space-time predicted by general relativity. Discovery of these waves would confirm Einstein's theories and transform astronomy, though none has been directly detected to date. The previous five years represented a particularly active period in the field. Sociologist Harry Collins provides an account of gravitational wave research based on embedded fieldwork with physicists. He documents two potential discoveries: "Big Dog," analyzed here for the first time, and the "Equinox Event," previously chronicled in Gravity's Ghost. Collins records the debates scientists conducted as they determined what their observations meant and how to communicate findings publicly. The work demonstrates how even highly statistical sciences depend on social and philosophical choices. Drawing on nearly fifty years of fieldwork at the American Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory and other sites worldwide, Collins offers commentary on science's role in contemporary society.