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Big bang theory and how it started essay
Big bang theory and how it started essay
The big bang theory of the origin of the universe
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According to the definition given by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, the universe is a system consisting of all matter and energy, as well as all of the contents of space as a whole. (Dunbar, Canright) The birth of the universe resulted in the creation of all of the things that we know today, yet, its true origin is unknown.
I know what you’re thinking. “If the origin of the universe is unknown, then how do we know how the universe began”? Well, this question has baffled scientists for decades. No exact answer has been discovered which could put this highly debated topic to rest; however, scientists have come up with numerous theories over the years which have attempted to explain just how it all began. The most popular of all the theories, the Big Bang Theory, has been widely accepted and believed to be the true origin of the universe for decades. The Big Bang Theory manages to explain the origin of the universe, how the universe has evolved and what the universe is destined to be.
I’ll bet that you’ve been hearing about the Big Bang Theory since you were in kindergarten, but you still don’t understand what all of the fuss is about! In short, the Big Bang Theory is a hypothesis which speculated that the universe was created by an explosion, or a “big bang”.
The basis of the Big Bang Theory was first proposed by the curious Belgian priest and astronomer, Georges Lemaitre. In 1927, Lemaitre discovered that the other galaxies in our universe were moving away from us. Lemaitre published his findings in the Annals of the Scientific Society of Brussels. However, Lemaitre’s findings were published in French and wouldn’t be translated to English until 1931. (Taylor-Redd) In 1929, American astronomer, Edwin Hu...
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Unknown. "Georges-Henri Lemaitre." [Online] 04 December 2013. .
George Gamow, Ralph Alpher, Robert Hermen. "The Origin of Chemical Elements." [Online] 1 April 1948. .
Dr. Tony Phillips, Ruth Netting. "Universe Older Than Previously Thought ." [Online] 21 March 2013. .
Dr. Barbara Mattson, Meredith Gibb, Phil Newman. "Origin and Destiny of the Universe." [Online] 18 August 2009. .
Britt Griswold, Dr. David T. Chuss. "What is the Ultimate Fate of the Universe? ." [Online image] 21 December 2012. .
middle of paper ... ... The Web. 22 Feb. 2014. http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history>.
For centuries humans looked up at the sky and wondered where we came from and why we are here. It was this fascination that lead scientists and philosophers to explore the Universe for answers. Over time these answers varied depending on what religion, ideas and technology was available to them. Some believed in an Aristotelian Universe centred around the Earth where others believed in the Copernican Universe which placed our sun in the centre. Most theories were dispelled due to the religious connotations and that it went against their belief of creationism. Like with all theories the specifics of this developed over time, and there have been many countless advances since the first proposal.
“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” were the now famous and iconic words or Neil Armstrong as he became the first man to set foot on Earth’s moon. The advanced research mankind has made to further their understanding of the vast, astronomical unknown of space has opened up numerous doors of opportunity to fathom the universe, but not without drastic repercussions.
This book review is based upon the book The Cosmic Race, written by Jose Vasconcelos and then translated and annotated by Didier T. Jaen, afterword by Joseba Gabilondo. This book is published by Johns Hopkins University Press and copyright in 1925 by Herederos de Jose Vasconcelos.
It is applicable for a wide range of readers. It lends itself to someone interested in the highly complex areas of astronomy but also makes it easy to understand for a beginner. Zeeya Merali used short and simple sentences to make it easy for the reader to follow. The article was accompanied by diagrams to fortify the readers’ comprehension. I especially appreciated the diagrams explaining the three possible endings for the universe.
Danielson, Dennis Richard, Ed. The book of the cosmos : imagining the universe from Heraclitus to Hawking. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing, 2000.
The multiverse is, in the simplest terms, multiple universes. It is a “proposal that there could also be other Big Bangs that might be completely disconnected from ours” (Bernard, and Ellis 2.29). If a Big Bang was possible in our own universe, then it should be possible for them to occur elsewhere under similar, or even perhaps differing, conditions. This idea seems rather simple, however, it encompasses an enormous amount theory and explanation, around a theory that is not yet well confirmed.
The new possibilities opened up in 1915, when Einstein formulated his famous general relativity theory that describes the nature of space, time, and gravity. This theory allows for expansion or contraction of the fabric of space. Which sounds completely reasonable, no? In 1917, astronomer Willem de Sitter applied this theory to the entire universe and boldly went on to show that the universe could be expanding. People like this is what we need, inspiration, for the future generations of bright minds. By 1930, other cosmologists, including Eddington, Willem de Sitter, and Einstein, had concluded that the static (non-evolving) models of the universe they had worked on for many years were unsatisfactory. Furthermore, Edwin Hubble, using the world’s largest telescope at Mt. Wilson in California, had shown that the distant galaxies all appeared to be receding from us at speeds proportional to their distances.
“Some of the most asked questions has been How was the universe created? When was the universe created? Why was the universe created? Many once believed that the universe was just there and that it was truly never ending. Through the inception of the Big Bang theory the universe could be no longer considered never ending”(Dennis). We had to consider the possibility of a universe that had started some time in history and would possibly end at some time in history. About thirtyfive billion years ago a gigantic explosion started the expansion of the universe. The explosion has come to be universally known as the big bang. At this point all of the matter and energy in space was contained at one point. What was before this event is not known to any human being and is a matter of pure speculation. This occurrence was not a conventional explosion but rather an event that expanded all of the particles of the “baby” universe rushing away from each other. There were actually no galaxies before that of the big bang but it was more like it started the process of creating all of the galaxies that we know today.
Linde, Andrei, Dmitri Linde, and Arthur Mezhlumian. "From the Big Bang theory to the theory
The Big Bang Theory is the approved model that scientists use to describe the beginning and original evolution of the universe. The Big Bang created all of the matter and energy in the universe, including hydrogen and helium. A few of the light atoms were forged into the cores of stars, over billions of years, or through violent explosions of supernovae
Fifteen billion years ago, give or take five billion years, the entirety of our universe was compressed into the confines of an atomic nucleus. Known as a singularity, this is the moment before creation when space and time did not exist. According to the prevailing cosmological models that explain our universe, an ineffable explosion, trillions of degrees in temperature on any measurement scale, that was infinitely dense, created not on fundamental subatomic particles and thus matter and energy but space and time itself. Cosmology theorists combined with the observations of their astronomy colleagues have been able to reconstruct the primordial chronology of events known as the big bang.
Jenkins, Alejandro, and Gilad Perez. "Looking for Life in the Multiverse." Scientific American Jan. 2010: 42-49. Print.
The Universe is a collection of millions of galaxies and extends beyond human imagination. After the big bang, the universe was found to be composed of radiation and subatomic particles. Information following big bang is arguable on how galaxies formed, that is whether small particles merged to form clusters and eventually galaxies or whether the universe systematized as immense clumps of matter that later fragmented into galaxies (Nasa World book, 2013). A galaxy is a massive area of empty space full of dust, gases (mainly 75% Hydrogen and 25%Helium), atoms, about 100-200 billion stars, interstellar clouds and planets, attracted to the center by gravitational force of attraction. Based on recent research, 170 billion galaxies have been estimated to exist, with only tens of thousands been discovered (Deutsch, 2011).
Since the dawn of intelligent man, humanity has speculated about the origins of the universe.