New Cosmology

Written in simple and accessible language, this nontechnical introduction to cosmology, or the creation and development of the universe, explains the discipline, covers its history, details the latest developments, and explains what is known, what is believed, and what is purely speculative. In addition, the author discusses the development of the Big Bang theory, and more speculative modern issues like quantum cosmology, superstrings, and dark matter. 

Cosmology is the story we tell ourselves about why we are here in this Universe. Right now we humans find ourselves in a cosmological transformation that is as profound as the radical shift in collective consciousness after we realized that the Sun doesn’t orbit around the Earth. We live in a time that collapses time into timelessness; we live in a space that doesn’t acknowledge boundary. The story is changing right now, because our knowledge of who we are is changing. We must re-understand humanity, its reason for existence, and its potential for co-participating with evolution.

For half a century, cosmology has relied on two invisible ingredients to explain the universe: dark matter, a substance that has never been detected despite decades of experimental search, and dark energy, a repulsive force whose physical nature remains entirely unknown. Together, they are said to constitute ninety-five percent of the cosmos. The remaining five percent—ordinary atoms, light, everything we have ever touched or measured—is treated as a minor addendum to a universe made mostly of darkness. This textbook presents a different cosmology. It is not speculative.