For most people, being in central London on a Saturday night means attending the theatre, going to nightclubs and staying up late with friends. But for those lucky enough to be heading towards the Royal Institution to attend Claudia de Rham’s lecture on the nature of Gravity itself, it was going to be an exciting evening full of discovery.

Born in Lausanne, de Rham has always been a traveller and an explorer. Having lived in Switzerland, Madagascar, Paris and California amongst others, she is now based in the UK and has always been interested in how the world works, and has given talks all over the world to educate others in the ongoing search for a resolution to some of physics’ longest standing theories, as well as allowing them into the secrets of gravity, her area of specialism. Having published a book in early April this year, she was invited to give a talk at the RI over the Easter half term, which I attended. Enthusiastic and sparky (sometimes literally!), she introduced us all to the wonders of the latest physics research with a range of thought experiments, exciting demonstrations and amusing graphics, all of which made the talk incredibly thought provoking. 

After the talk, I had the chance to speak to Professor Claudia de Rham (Imperial College London) when she signed my copy of her book, The Beauty of Falling. It expands on her lecture, providing extra detail and deeper insight into the topics she covered during her talk. Far from being full of jargon or a dry read, her book is witty, informative and carries a personality of its own, bringing across the sheer enthusiasm de Rham has for her work. Although some of the concepts require deeper thought and a certain amount of familiarity, the book is nonetheless intriguing to those with any kind of scientific curiosity. Refreshingly honest, de Rham isn’t afraid to introduce readers to the latest theories in the physics community, but is also clear on what is generally accepted and what is more controversial and ground breaking. 

My favourite section was The Ghost of Massive Gravity, which starts to explore the possibility of massive gravitons, the idea that the particles which convey gravity could have a mass (albeit one that would be very small). For many years, any attempt to approach the idea has been, as one paper delightfully puts it, ‘plagued by ghost instabilities’; states which arise when mathematics predicts the existence of particles with negative energy. De Rham, however, has found a solution, and she details in her book the extraordinary journey she took to remove these ghost instabilities and what it could mean for the future of theoretical physics. I found this really interesting as it was an area I’d not covered before and I thought the creative analogies were a wonderful way to explain what had been discovered.

An exciting event followed by a fascinating read, Claudia de Rham will not disappoint if you are looking for your next favourite science book, and her talks are not to be missed!