The Afterglow of the Big Bang
Is there an 'echo' of the big bang? The story of the prediction, serendipitous discovery and interpretation of the microwave radiation left over from the hot early beginnings of the universe. This radiation contains a wealth of information about the history and structure of the universe. It tells us its shape. It reveals the nature of the small lumps that eventually turned into galaxies. It tells us how fast we are moving. It events tells us about irregularities which no longer exist.
In recent years there have been spectacular space missions to map this radiation with unprecedented accuracy and in the next year a new European PLANCK mission will be launched.
Professor John D. Barrow FRS has been a Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge since 1999, carrying out research in mathematical physics, with special interest in cosmology, gravitation, particle physics and associated applied mathematics.
(from gresham.ac.uk)
| The Afterglow of the Big Bang |
| Related Links |
| Big Bang A collection of documentary films about the Big Bang theory, explaining how the Universe came into the existence out of nothing, the story behind the emergence of the Big Bang and the Big Bang Machine. |
| Origin of the Universe: The Big Bang The scientific story of creation begins 13.7 billion years ago in a circumstance of incredible temperature and density, when all matter and radiation was contained in a region smaller than an atom. |
| Echoes of the Big Bang We revisit the remnant radiation of the Big Bang that pervades the sky as the cosmic microwave background in the light of the recent Planck telescope mapping. |
| Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy. |
| Cosmology During this course, you'll have the opportunity to study the cosmos from the modern perspective - what we know and what we're not sure about. |