How Objects Influence Each Other Remotely

Physics once relied on the spooky idea that objects can move one another without ever touching. Newton used this concept to explain gravity, imagining invisible forces acting across the void of space.

For centuries, scientists struggled to explain how gravity or electricity could bridge the gap between stars or magnets. Isaac Newton famously admitted he had no idea how his law of gravitation actually worked across vast distances. It was only later that Einstein introduced the idea of fields to explain that space itself carries these invisible influences. Before this, the idea that a distant object could instantly affect another seemed almost magical.