NATURAL WONDERS
ALL THAT GOES UP COMES DOWN
Rex Burress
During the fiery summer of 2018, I was wishing the smoky air rising from the woods would keep right on going up, but even smoke is drawn back to earth by gravity.
Gravity indeed, holds earth together, and pulls particles and pigeons toward earth. It takes the force of energy to fly or jump or walk or send a rocket from the soil surface. That seems very elementary, and we know instinctively that the attraction will happen, much like what John Burroughs said of animals; 'they know without knowing they know.'
I went to Google, and even in that pile of endless answers, the bottom line is that scientists don't fully know what causes gravity, in spite of Einstein's elaborate theories, mostly involving time-space warps around objects hitched to his “general relativity.” “More study needed.” One theory is that there are particles called gravitons involved, but they haven't been found.
Akin to gravity, is magnetism. Magnetic attraction is when certain metals are drawn together and stick, and we think of a man-made magnet and iron. Alas, a magnet will not attract metallic gold! We know there are natural magnetic forces in the mineral magnetite. Black sand on the beach is magnetic and will cling to a magnet. The compass needle is magnetized and swings toward the polarization of the North Pole in the Northern Hemisphere and to the South Pole in the Southern Hemisphere, an invisible process that seems like magic.
Gravity is stronger when mass is closer together, as we know when trying to move a boulder or when a deer hunter carries his game home. Once in space farther away from earth's gravity, objects become almost weightless when at a distance from our possessive planet's gravitational field!
Thus we go down by the riverside and see the October salmon held in the water by gravity, and the water itself is contained in the channel and pushed forth to the ocean by the relentless push of current and the pull of the downward force. The vultures sail in the sky continually adjusting the slant of their wings to cleverly use air currents to defy gravity. There goes the scrub jay, flying from scrub to tree, investigating its territory, playing dip and dash with gravity. We enjoy watching the denizens of the wild as we try to stay upright against the gravitational pull, but seldom stopping to think about what supports the biotic system and holds it all on the face of the earth.
Those who have hunted rocks and gathered special specimens for lapidary exhibits know about gravity holding rocks in place. I am reminded of taking a week-long field trip to the Black Rock desert hills and contending with agate-bearing rough terrain, reached only by manually hiking in remote barrens. Energy is needed to help confront gravity. “One leg up; one leg down!” My comrade Clarence made the trip with a broken ankle on the mend, caused by a heavy rock that had rolled onto his leg.
What do you do when you find a 300-pound petrified log on top of a treeless ridge in an isolated canyon, far from any road? Perhaps it had been there for millions of years? Six rockhounds carried the heavy, gravity-held treasure back to camp on a sling. Maybe we should have left it there with its friend, gravity...
“We're always in the middle of two energies. Gravity is sinking you down; inspiration is pulling you up.”—Mandy Ingber
“Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly 73% of all accidents involving falling objects.”--Dave Barry
“Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.”--Edward Weston