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

Chapter 0-Page 0

The above description accounts pretty well for what the universe looks like today. About the temperature of the universe: we may have implied that scientists knew the temperature of the universe was 30 K before they proposed the Big Bang theory. Actually, the Big Bang theory predicted background radiation in the 1940's. Astronomers discovered the radiation in 1965, and with that kind of evidence, they put the theory of the Big Bang in the trophy case as the best model of the universe.

The little bits describe the Big Bang.

WHAT'S NEXT: EXPANSION OR SHRINKAGE

The answer depends on the amount of matter and how fast it's flying apart. If the universe expands faster than gravity can pull it back together, it will explode outwards forever. All the material might run into a wall out there, but not likely. In this scenario, the universe came in with a bang and will go out with a whimper (kind of sad).

If gravity is strong enough to overcome the expansion, galaxies will slow down, stop in their tracks, and start falling. Look out below, wherever below is. Everything will come crashing back together, perhaps one hundred billion years from now, into another singularity to explode all over again. This pumping action might have occurred hundreds of times already; scientific thought is leaning in this direction. Maybe we should have called this theory The Big Rebound just to be safe.

The universe can go either way.

Chapter 0-Page 0

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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