general relativity - What was the Law of Gravity better explained by?

In mechanics, our professor made the declaration that "all laws of physics" have been disproven. He mentioned several examples including the Law of Gravity, mentioning briefly that it is better explained by Einstein's theory of General Relativity. He also mentioned Bohr's model of the electron, and how it was better explained by other models, which I've since learned.

Now, haven taken Modern Physics as part of a Physics 3 class, I'm still scratching my head wondering how the theory of general relativity explains attraction between large objects.

Has has Einstein's theory of General Relativity truly explained it or did I misunderstand? If so, how?

Answer

You probably learned about Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity in your Modern Physics class. It is Einstein's Theory of General Relativity that provides a more accurate description of what we normally call gravity.

Basically, general relativity explains gravity not as an interaction between two bodies but as a warp in space-time in the presence of matter. Rather than thinking of gravity as a force, general relativity treats gravity as a change in space and time itself. It is more of a theory of geometry than of forces and attractions. But that is in general relativity, not special relativity.