Cosmology

Cosmology

Cosmology is the study of the Universe and its components, how it formed, how its has evolved and what is its future. Modern cosmology grew from ideas before recorded history. Ancient man asked questions such as "What's going on around me?" which then developed into "How does the Universe work?", the key question that cosmology asks.

To religious studies, cosmology is about a theistically created world ruled by supernatural forces. To scientists, modern cosmology is about developing the most complete and economical as possible understanding of the Universe that is consistent with observations elucidated by natural forces. We will primarily explore the latter type of cosmology in this course.

Many of the earliest recorded scientific observations were about cosmology, and pursue of understanding has continued for over 5000 years. Cosmology has exploded in the last 20 years with radically new information about the structure, origin and evolution of the Universe obtained through recent technological advances in telescopes and space observatories and basically has become a search for the understanding of not only what makes up the Universe (the objects within it) but also its overall architecture.

Modern cosmology is on the borderland between science and philosophy, close to philosophy because it asks fundamental questions about the Universe, close to science since it looks for answers in the form of empirical understanding by observation and rational explanation. Thus, theories about cosmology operate with a tension between a philosophical urge for simplicity and a wish to include all the Universe's features versus the total complexity of it all.