Yes, The Ancestor's Tale, being my favourite book of his, The Greatest Show on Earth is worth a read as well.
The universe is commonly defined as the totality of existence, including planets, stars, galaxies, the contents of intergalactic space, and all matter and energy. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature. Scientific observation of earlier stages in the development of the universe, which can be seen at great distances, suggests that the universe has been governed by the same physical laws and constants throughout most of its extent and history. There are various multiverse hypotheses, in which physicists have suggested that the universe might be one among many universes that likewise exist. The farthest distance that it is theoretically possible for humans to see is described as the observable universe. Observations have shown that the universe appears to be expanding at an accelerating rate, and a number of models have arisen to predict its ultimate fate. size compared to the size of the moon - several thousand galaxies, each consisting of each light speck is a galaxy - some of these are as old as 13.2 billion years[9] - the universe is estimated to contain 200 billion galaxies. image shows fully mature galaxies in the foreground plane - nearly mature galaxies from 5 to 9 billion years ago - protogalaxies, blazing with young stars, beyond 9 billion years.Throughout recorded history, several cosmologies and cosmogonies have been proposed to account for observations of the universe. The earliest quantitative geocentric models were developed by the ancient Greek philosophers. Over the centuries, more precise observations and improved theories of gravity led to Copernicus's heliocentric model and the Newtonian model of the Solar System, respectively. Further improvements in astronomy led to the realization that the Solar System is embedded in a galaxy composed of billions of stars, the Milky Way, and that other galaxies exist outside it, as far as astronomical instruments can reach. Careful studies of the distribution of these galaxies and their spectral lines have led to much history of the universe According to the prevailing scientific model of the universe, known as the Big Bang, the universe expanded from an extremely hot, dense phase called the Planck epoch, in which all the matter and energy of the observable universe was concentrated. Since the Planck epoch, the universe has been expanding to its present form, possibly with a brief period (less than 10−32 seconds) of cosmic inflation. Several independent experimental measurements support this theoretical expansion and, more generally, the Big Bang theory. Recent observations indicate that this expansion is accelerating because of dark energy, and that most of the matter in the universe may be in a form which cannot be detected by present instruments, called dark matter.. The common use of the "dark matter" and "dark energy" placeholder names for the unknown entities purported to account for about 95% of the mass-energy density of the universe demonstrates the present observational and conceptual shortcomings and uncertainties concerning the nature and ultimate fate of the universe. Current interpretations of astronomical observations indicate that the age of the universe is 13.75 ± 0.17 billion years,(whereas the decoupling of light and matter, happened already 380,000 years after the Big Bang), and that the diameter of the observable universe is at least 93 billion light years or 8.80Ã1026 metres. According to general relativity, space can expand faster than the speed of light, although we can view only a small portion of the universe due to the limitation imposed by light speed. Since we cannot observe space beyond the limitations of light (or any electromagnetic radiation), it is uncertain whether the size of the universe is finite or infinite.
In the inflationary theory, matter, antimatter, and photons were produced by the energy of the false vacuum, which was released following the phase transition. All of these particles consist of positive energy. This energy, however, is exactly balanced by the negative gravitational energy of everything pulling on everything else. In other words, the total energy of the universe is zero! It is remarkable that the universe consists of essentially nothing, but (fortunately for us) in positive and negative parts. You can easily see that gravity is associated with negative energy: If you drop a ball from rest (defined to be a state of zero energy), it gains energy of motion (kinetic energy) as it falls. But this gain is exactly balanced by a larger negative gravitational energy as it comes closer to Earth’s center, so the sum of the two energies remains zero. The idea of a zero-energy universe, together with inflation, suggests that all one needs is just a tiny bit of energy to get the whole thing started (that is, a tiny volume of energy in which inflation can begin). The universe then experiences inflationary expansion, but without creating net energy. What produced the energy before inflation? This is perhaps the ultimate question. As crazy as it might seem, the energy may have come out of nothing! The meaning of "nothing" is somewhat ambiguous here. It might be the vacuum in some pre-existing space and time, or it could be nothing at all – that is, all concepts of space and time were created with the universe itself. There you go, that really clears everything up...don't you think?!
You're all talking bollox - we're all living as objects and entities in a computer super-programme from the future. Praise be to Babbage. please log in to view this image
True and very puzzling 83. There are always some 'know it alls' who attempt to answer the question 'where is the universe'? However, there are some people ( the more intelligent imo) , like yourself and MR RA who admit to the bafflement and the not knowing. Therefore, you join Socrates in knowing that we know nothing for sure. I'm not sure if you or Mr Ra have ever been compared to Socrates or any Greek philosopher before. If either of you have can you let me know?
Questions that baffle me. Why do planets orbit? I know Gravity but why does gravity make them orbit? In physics something can't come from nothing. At least that's how I remember it, so where did the big bang come from? What was the start of time and why? How do they measure the distance to stars and galaxies? If we rotate around the sun and our sun rotates around our galaxy and our galaxy rotates around what ever it rotates around. How come all others galaxies are moving away from us? Why do objects in space have a temperature yet space does not????
I've got to say that I have never before been compared to a Greek philosopher..If I could possibly compare myself to one, it would be someone such as Ephialtes, who was very influential in the development of democracy.
Technically the Universe means everything, so its not a question of where it is because it is everywhere. When people talk about universes they are talking about things like parrallel universes which exist in a different dimension to our own. If the question was where are we in the universe the answer is we exist in one of the spiral arms of the milky way galaxy. The milky way is has about 100 billion stars (our sun being one). Our Milky way galaxy is one in a cluster of galaxy's which make up the Vigo super cluster.
Jesus - I was about to make a comment and then I realised I was intellectually inadequate - some clever buggers on here like
Anyone who professes to understand the universe is just a bluffer mate...We can all have our theories, but personally I go dizzy when I think to hard about it.
...the Universe was sneezed out of the nose of a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure eventually the time will come of the Great White Handkerchief
