The Perfect Theory: Pedro G Ferreira and Marcus du Sautoy

If a man falls off a house, he won't feel his own weight...

Almost a century after Einstein first proposed it, the full ramifications of the General Theory of Relativity are still being debated. Pedro Ferreira is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and his new book The Perfect Theory brings to life both the science and the scientific controversies which have surrounded the General Theory since its conception.

Pedro was at the Bookshop in conversation with Marcus du Sautoy, who wrote of him: ‘You couldn't ask for a better guide to the outer reaches of the universe and the inner workings of the minds of those who've navigated it.’ Their discussion ranged over the origins and implications of the theory - from black holes to time travel - and explored where research into general relativity might lead in the future. Are space and time emergent phenomena? What happened when Einstein met Gödel? And how is general relativity like Penelope Fitzgerald?