Why is gravity important to science today?
Scientists ultimately want a single theory of the universe (often called a Theory of Everything or T.O.E.). To do this physicists need to answer how the four forces of nature interrelate. So far they have unified three of the forces (strong nuclear, weak nuclear and electromagnetic). However they cannot get gravity worked in without messing up the mathematics to the point of uselessness. There are two main theories in physics today. Quantum Mechanics (study of very very small stuff) and Relativity (study of how things work on large scales). Each are proven to be reliable to incredible degrees of accuracy but when combined they fall apart badly. Gravity is causing the problems. Ordinarily gravity on very small scales is insignificant so QM works fine. But in some exceptional cases gravity becomes the overwhelming force on small scales (such as the center of a black hole or the singularity at the start of the universe). So scientists are puzzled and continue to work on the problem. Despi
