Newton viewed space and time as separate and absolute. As conceived by Einstein they are united in a flexible continuum that responds to the presence of matter. The stars and planets wrap the spacetime continuum around themselves, in a sense, each sitting in the center of a sort of spacetime whirlpool.

The Red Limit: The Search for the Edge of the Universe, Chapter 3 (p. 71), William Morrow & Company, Inc. 1977