Table of Contents

Preface

1. Scientific Theories and Laws

2. The First Decade (1936-1946)

3. Relativity

4. The Second Decade (1946-1956)

5. Quantum Mechanics

6. The Third Decade (1956-1966)

7. The Big Bang

8. The Fourth Decade (1966-1976)

9. The Non-Bang

10. The Fifth Decade (1976-1986)

11. The Never-Bang

12. The Sixth Decade (1986-1996)

13. Evolution

14. The Seventh Decade (1996-2006)

15. The Theory of More than Everything

16. The Eighth Decade (2006-2016)

17. Now What?

18. The Ninth Decade (2016-2026)

Appendix A Paintings

Appendix B TTOMTE and a Steady State Universe

Appendix C Musical Compositions

Bibliography

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Even in the twentieth century, scientists weren't always sure what they saw out there. Astronomers thought those fuzzy, round objects in the night sky were gas clouds inside our galaxy. By now, you know what they were.

We keep getting closer to the truth.

WHAT DO WE KNOW SO FAR

During the day we can see the sun, and sometimes the moon, move slowly across the sky. If we go outside at night, we'll see stars that move ever so slowly from east to west; compared to the crickets and frogs, the sky seems particularly quiet except for the occasional shooting star (a grain of sand burning through our atmosphere). If we go out a few nights in a row, we may notice some non-twinkling stars, wanderers called planets, moving across the background of the others. Sometimes a comet might appear, but we've explained all these observations, haven't we?

Yes, but all these objects are quite close to us compared to those fuzzy things mentioned earlier. If your eyes are really sharp, you can see a faint, hazy something in the Andromeda constellation. Remember the poster from third grade? In Andromeda, we can actually see one of those pinwheels of stars, another galaxy. It's the closest one, and it doesn't seem to move at all; even Einstein assumed it wasn't moving. The problem began once those pesky astronomers started using stronger telescopes, photography, and other contraptions. They noticed an unexpected feature of the universe they hadn't explained.

We understand the billions of stars and other assorted debris in our galaxy, but we can see puzzling things farther out there.

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Sections

WHY KEEP LOOKING OUT THERE

CAN WE LEARN THE TRUTH

WHAT DO WE KNOW SO FAR

HOW OLD IS THE EARTH

WHAT'S THE MATTER

HOW WARM IS THE UNIVERSE

HOW BIG IS THE UNIVERSE

DO GALAXIES ACT UNEXPECTEDLY

WHY DOES UNIVERSE ACT SO

HOW DID THE UNIVERSE EXPAND

WHAT'S NEXT

FINAL THOUGHTS

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