The Astonishing Observation of Gravitational Waves

On its 100th anniversary, Einstein’s prediction about his theory of relativity has been validated. Just this month, two facilities in the U.S. recorded gravitational waves resulting from the merging of two black holes that happened 1.3 billion years ago. These ripples are so small — only a fraction the size of an atom – that capturing them was a seemingly insurmountable task. It was a feat that, although Einstein predicted, he never believed we would be able to confirm. In this special episode of The Torch, join Ed Leon of the Great Courses and Dr. Joshua N. Winn, Associate Professor of Physics at MIT, to learn how this cutting-edge discovery pushes the frontiers of knowledge and technology.