Physicist Claudia de Rham: ‘Gravity connects everything, from a person to a planet’

The scientist on training as a diver, pilot and astronaut in order to understand the true nature of gravity, and what happens at the centre of a black hole

Prof Claudia de Rham is a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London, developing and testing new models and paradigms" at the intersection of gravity, cosmology and particle physics. She has just published her first book, The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity, charting her lifelong attempt to understand the true nature" of the force around her, which has seen her train as an astronaut, diver and pilot.

In your book, you say you have been chasing gravity my entire life". What does that mean?
It's something we all have in ourselves, this playful relationship with gravity. But to some extent, it has taken on a meaning of its own for me in terms of really trying to go to outer space, to challenge gravity in a slightly different way. And when that hasn't worked out, then to do that from a more scientific point of view, in terms of understanding the underlying framework behind the models we have for gravity; coming up with new models, and finding ways to see if we can experiment with those.

The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity by Claudia de Rham is published by Princeton University Press (20). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply