Gravity Isn't a Force

The Hang Theory. A lecture series by Hang Dallas.

One speaker. One big idea. One good room.

Where · Times Ten Cellars.

Newton said gravity pulls. Einstein said space bends. Dr. Michael Kesden walks through how Einstein dismantled the idea of gravity as a force and replaced it with geometry: mass and energy warp the fabric of spacetime, and objects simply follow the straightest paths they can through that curved landscape. What looks like an apple falling or a planet orbiting is motion along a bent grid, not a tug across empty space.

Dr. Kesden explains what that shift means for falling objects, for orbits, and for time itself, then follows the logic to its extreme: black holes, regions where curvature grows so steep that nothing, not even light, can climb back out. He connects the century-old theory to what physicists detect today, including the gravitational waves that ripple out when black holes collide, the subject of his own research.

Dr. Kesden is Associate Professor of Physics at UT Dallas and Speaker of the Faculty. His research centers on binary black hole mergers, gravitational wave emission, and tidal disruption events. He is a member of the Cosmology, Relativity and Astrophysics Group and holds a Ph.D. In Theoretical Astrophysics from Caltech.

How the night goes

Doors at 6:30 PM. Claim a seat, settle in.
We kick things off around 6:55 PM.
Dr. Kesden takes the floor at 7:00 PM.
Questions from the room near 7:45 PM.
Then we linger. Meet the speaker, meet each other, around 8:00 PM.
Out by 8:30 PM.