To many readers of physics, the history of theories of gravitation may be summed up approximately as follows. After a chaotic period featuring vortex ether models and the like, gravity was at last put on a firm scientific footing by Newton. In the following centuries Newton's theory saw success after success, until a few unexplained anomalies, such as the advance of the perihelion of Mercury, paved the way for Einstein's General Relativity. The latter theory has remained without serious challenges.