Cosmology is the scientific study of the origin, large scale structure and evolution of the universe as a whole, drawing on physics, astronomy and astrophysics. Speculative cosmological ideas are as old as philosophy, but modern scientific cosmology is generally dated to 1917, when Albert Einstein published a static-universe cosmological model as an extension of his own general theory of relativity, a paper that opened the twentieth century program of testing mathematical models of the universe against astronomical observation. Later work on the expansion of the universe and cosmic background radiation built directly on the general-relativistic framework this 1917 paper established.
Facts
Founded YearSourced to the subject's own account Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own accountWhat are dark matter and dark energy, the two components thought to make up about ninety five percent of the universe's total mass and energy, and how do they shape the universe's structure and expansion? 1 ScopeSourced to the subject's own accountCosmology studies the origin, evolution, large-scale structure and eventual fate of the universe as a whole, drawing together general relativity, particle physics and observational astronomy. 1 SignificanceSourced to the subject's own accountGeorges Lemaitre, a Belgian priest and physicist, proposed in 1927 that the universe is expanding from a primeval atom, the seed of what became the Big Bang theory; the 1965 discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation later gave that theory its decisive observational confirmation. 1 Connections
Founded By
Modern scientific cosmology is dated to his 1917 static-universe extension of general relativity.
Source Cosmology (Wikipedia)
Credited as founder of physical cosmology and the Big Bang theory specifically, not of cosmological speculation generally, which is far older.
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Source Alan Guth (Wikipedia)
Source Alexei Starobinsky - Wikipedia
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Source Wikipedia: George Smoot
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Source John A. Peacock - Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: John C. Mather
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Source Robert Brout (Wikipedia)
Source Shaun Cole (Wikipedia)
Source Stephen Hawking (Wikipedia)
Has Theory
Source Cosmic Inflation (Wikipedia)
Source Dark Energy (Wikipedia)
Source Dark Matter (Wikipedia)
Source Hubble's Law (Wikipedia)
Open Questions
Source Cosmology (Wikipedia)
Uses
Radio telescopes are a primary observational tool of modern physical cosmology; this edge was unreachable before the cosmology discipline entity existed.
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1. Cosmology (Wikipedia)
WikipediaPhysical cosmology section
Modern scientific cosmology is widely considered to have begun in 1917 with Albert Einstein's publication of his final modification of general relativity.
- Founded By: Albert Einstein
- Uses: Radio Telescope
- Founded By: Georges Lemaitre
Part Of: Astronomy, Lead section
In the science of astronomy, physical cosmology is concerned with the study of the chronology of the universe, the observable universe's origin, its large-scale structures and dynamics, and the ultimate fate of the universe.
In Group: Astronomy and Cosmology, Lead
is the study of the nature of the universe, the cosmos
View the Source Stephen Hawking (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Stephen Hawking, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Stephen Hawking, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: General relativity ; Cosmology ; Quantum gravity
Robert Brout (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Robert Brout, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Robert Brout, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Statistical mechanics; Quantum field theory; Particle physics; Cosmology
Andrei Linde - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Andrei Linde, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Andrei Linde, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Theoretical physics ; Physical cosmology
Alexei Starobinsky - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Alexei Starobinsky, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: Alexei Starobinsky, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Theoretical physics; Cosmology
George Efstathiou (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: George Efstathiou, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: George Efstathiou, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Cosmology
A. W. Peet (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: A. W. Peet, Infobox, fieldsQuote, Has Scientist: A. W. Peet, Infobox, fields
Infobox fields: Quantum field theory; String theory; Cosmology
Hermann Bondi (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Hermann Bondi, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Hermann Bondi, Lead sentence
Sir Hermann Bondi (1 November 1919-10 September 2005) was an Austrian-British mathematician and cosmologist.
Alan Guth (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Alan Guth, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Alan Guth, Lead sentence
Alan Harvey Guth (; born February 27, 1947) is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is the Victor Weisskopf Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Wikipedia: John C. Mather
Has Scientist: John C. Mather, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: John C. Mather, Lead sentence
John Cromwell Mather (born August 7, 1946) is an American astrophysicist and cosmologist.
Wikipedia: George Smoot
Has Scientist: George Smoot, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: George Smoot, Lead sentence
George Fitzgerald Smoot III (February 20, 1945, September 18, 2025) was an American astrophysicist and cosmologist.
Preston Cloud (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Preston Cloud, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Preston Cloud, Lead sentence
Preston Ercelle Cloud, Jr. (September 26, 1912, January 16, 1991) was an American earth scientist, biogeologist, cosmologist, and paleontologist.
Martin Rees - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Martin Rees, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Martin Rees, Lead sentence
Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, (born 23 June 1942) is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist.
John A. Peacock - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: John A. Peacock, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: John A. Peacock, Lead sentence
John Andrew Peacock (born 27 March 1956) is a British cosmologist, astronomer, and academic.
Daniel Eisenstein - Wikipedia
Has Scientist: Daniel Eisenstein, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Daniel Eisenstein, Lead sentence
Daniel Eisenstein (born 1970) is an American cosmologist and academic.
Shaun Cole (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Shaun Cole, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Shaun Cole, Lead sentence
Shaun Malcolm Cole (born 19 November 1963) is a British cosmologist.
Dark Matter (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Dark Matter, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Theory: Dark Matter, Lead sentence
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, including light.
Dark Energy (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Dark Energy, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Theory: Dark Energy, Lead sentence
In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on its largest scales.
Hubble's Law (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Hubble's Law, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Theory: Hubble's Law, Lead sentence
Hubble's law, officially the Hubble-Lemaître law, is the observation in physical cosmology that galaxies are moving away from Earth at speeds proportional to their distance.
Cosmic Inflation (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Cosmic Inflation, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Theory: Cosmic Inflation, Lead sentence
In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the very early universe.
Open Questions (1 open question)
What is dark energy?
Observations of distant supernovae in the late 1990s showed the expansion of the universe is accelerating rather than slowing under gravity, implying roughly 68 percent of the universe's total energy content is an unseen component dubbed dark energy. No experiment has yet detected it directly or explained its physical nature, whether a constant property of space itself or a dynamic field.
What would resolve this Direct physical detection or a theoretical account of dark energy that makes testable predictions distinguishing it from a simple cosmological constant, confirmed by independent observational surveys of cosmic expansion.
Physical cosmology and theoretical physicsCosmology (Wikipedia)
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