Let’s quickly recollect the main points of the two earlier columns in this series. Gravity appears extravagantly feeble on atomic and laboratory scales, ultimately because the proton’s mass mp is much smaller than the Planck mass M Planck = ( c / G N ) 1 / 2 , where ℏ is Planck’s quantum of action, c is the speed of light, and GN is Newton’s gravitational constant. Numerically, mp/Mplanck ≈ 10−18. If we aspire, in line with Planck’s original vision and with modern ambitions for the unification of physics, to use the natural (Planck) system of units constructed from c, ℏ, and GN (see “Scaling Mount Planck I: A View from the Bottom,” Physics Today, Physics Today 0031-9228 546200112 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1387576 June 2001, page 12 ), and if we agree that the proton is...

You do not currently have access to this content.