Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Definition: cosmology from Philip's Encyclopedia

Branch of scientific study that brings together astronomy, mathematics and physics in an effort to understand the make-up and evolution of the universe. Once considered the province of theologians and philosophers, it is now an all-embracing science, which has made great strides in the 20th century. The discovery by Edwin Hubble in the 1920s that galaxies are receding from each other promoted the Big Bang theory. Associated with this is the oscillating universe theory. The other main theory is the steady-state theory.

cosmology

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
area of science that aims at a comprehensive theory of the structure and evolution of the entire physical universe . Present models of the universe hold two fundamental premises: the cosmological principle and the dominant role of gravitation . Derived by Hubble, the cosmological principle holds that if a large enough sample of galaxies is considered, the universe looks the same from all positions and in all directions in space. The second point of agreement is that gravitation (or an antigravitation force, called dark energy ) is the most important force in shaping the universe. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity , which is a geometric interpretation of gravitation, matter produces gravitational effects by actually distorting the space about it; the curvature of space is described by a form of non-Euclidean geometry . A number of cosmological theories satisfy both the cosmological principle and general relativity. The two main theories are the big-bang hypothesis and…
2,568 results

Full text Article cosmology

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Study of the structure of the Universe on the largest scale. Contained within it is COSMOGONY . Our early view of the Universe was prejudiced by the belief that we occupied a special place within it - at the centre. Only in the 20th century have we realized that the Earth is but a small planet of a…
| 1,157 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article COSMOLOGY

From Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850
Isaac Newton's demonstration in his Principia (1687) that all motion in the solar system took place according to immutable, absolute, abstract laws that could be calculated and understood by humankind had tremendous philosophical and theological implications. Hitherto, the course of history and…
| 1,083 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article COSMOLOGY

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
An elementary particle that does not exist in particle theory should also not exist in cosmology. Source undetermined. English mathematician and cosmologist There are probably few features of theoretical cosmology that could not be completely upset and rendered useless by new observational…
| 1,087 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Cosmology

From The Classical Tradition
Translated by Adam G. Beaver The image of the universe created in ancient Greece, adopted practically without modification by Latin authors, remained dominant in the West until the 17th century. With greater or lesser friction it was incorporated into the cultures of the societies of the book…
| 2,999 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cosmology

From Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Cosmology comes from the Greek word kosmos which, according to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary means ‘the world or universe as an ordered system’ or ‘order, harmony, a harmonious system’. Cosmology then, means the theory of the universe as an ordered whole, and of the general laws which govern…
| 1,950 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Cosmology

From Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology
Any account of the structure of the universe is a cosmology. Many cosmologies also include a cosmogony, or account of the universe’s origin, though for others the universe is eternal and thus without a beginning. Similarly, the relationship between the phenomenal world and the divine is a central…
| 277 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cosmology

From The Chambers Dictionary
the science of the universe as a whole; a treatise on the structure and parts of the system of creation. [Gr kosmos order, the universe, and logos discourse] /-loj'/ adj. n. ❑ cosmological argument n ( philos ) one of the arguments purporting to prove the existence of God, claiming that everything…
| 157 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cosmology

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Field of study that brings together the natural sciences, especially astronomy and physics , in an effort to understand the physical universe as a unified whole. The first great age of scientific cosmology began in Greece in the 6th century bc , when the Pythagoreans introduced the concept of a…
| 163 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cosmology

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
area of science that aims at a comprehensive theory of the structure and evolution of the entire physical universe . Present models of the universe hold two fundamental premises: the cosmological principle and the dominant role of gravitation . Derived by Hubble, the cosmological principle holds…
| 1,305 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cosmology

From Science Encyclopedia: Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy
The top “sliced” image shows how dark matter...
The study of the origin, evolution, and structure of the universe. Contemporary cosmology centers around the big bang hypothesis—a theory stating that about 14 billion (10 9 ) years ago the universe began in a great explosion and has been expanding ever since. In the open (or steady-state) model…
| 5,226 words , 1 image
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources