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Cosmology 101

Whether it is 9 or 15 billion years old, the age of the Universe is just one of the mysteries of the Cosmos. Get a grip on things with our cosmology special.

Posted by Tormod Guldvog
25 October, 2007 10:10:15

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Cosmology is the study of the Cosmos. Basically, cosmology tries to explain how the Universe became what it is today, and how it has developed since the Big Bang (which, of course, is nothing but a cosmological theory).

Cosmology is a field which requires insight into many other scientific areas, like mathematics, astronomy, physics and chemistry. By applying different explanations to what we observe, scientists can fuse scientific thought to create cross-field theories about our universe.

It is also a field of vast controversy, where philosophy meets science in a big way. Many cosmological views are non-scientific and are based on religious faith or conviction. But, critics argue, where is the science in a field where there is currently only a sample of one universe? Would we categorically state something about, say, a bird if there was only one bird to observe?

Cosmologists seek to solve this dilemma by studying phenomena like dark matter and dark energy, and how matter is distributed in the universe, to confirm theories and formulate new ones. Cosmology is one field where science will perhaps never get it "right".

Among the most recent discoveries, we find evidence that time can only flow in one direction, and that there are structures in the Universe which are incredibly large. Learn more from the links below, and remember to take the poll before you leave!

Related Links

The History of the Universe
http://www.historyoftheuniverse.com/
A very entertaining site presenting a click-by-click history of the Universe.

What Happened Before The Big Bang?
http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/big-bang.html
An entertaining article by Paul Davies, about the problems of causality and some rather interesting points about the existence of the universe.

Ask The Space Scientist About Relativity
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/aphyrel.html
Questions and answers about relativity, provided by NASA scientist Dr. Sten Odenwald.

Cosmology and the Origin of Life
http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Barrow/Barrow_contents.html
This is a web site based on the contents of a talk given by John D. Barrow at the Varenna Conference, Origin of Intelligent Life in the Universe, 30th September 1998.

Distant galaxies and cosmology models
http://www.cosmologymodels.com/
This is a thorough article on the cosmological models used to measure distances in the universe, written by Edward J. Barlow.

Introduction to Cosmology
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/html/web_site.html
This web site introduces basic concepts in modern cosmology and describes the MAP mission at a general level.

Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmo_01.htm
This is an introduction to cosmology written by an expert at the UCLA.

Destiny of this Universe
http://www.rishi.dk/guide/cosmos/destiny.html
How will our Universe look in the future? How will it end? This is a brief text explaining some of the possibilities.

Ripples in Space, the Origin of Structures in the Universe
http://cobi.gsfc.nasa.gov/msam-ripples.html
An in-depth, very long and non-illustrated article, published by NASA, about how cosmologists are looking for the origin of structures in the Universe.

For beginners: History of the Universe timeline
http://www.pbs.org/deepspace/timeline/index.html
This page is hosted by PBS, and has a great, clickable timeline with brief texts. This is a good way to get the big picture.

The History of the Universe
http://www.historyoftheuniverse.com/
A very entertaining site presenting a click-by-click history of the Universe.

Origins: Timeline of the Universe
http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/poster/poster.html
A NASA site with a cosmic timeline. This is part of the Origins Program.

A Trip Through The Big Bang
http://www.superstringtheory.com/cosmo/cosmo3.html
A wonderful presentation of the Big Bang, with animations and sound, presented by the String Theory website.