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Cosmology studies the universe and its origins, with religion being replaced by science. The Big Bang theory is the current scientific explanation, but it is constantly revised. The observable universe is estimated to be 90 billion light-years in diameter, and the anthropic idea suggests that our universe is one of many capable of supporting life.
Cosmology is the study of the universe and humanity’s place in it. In the last hundred years, cosmology has been dominated by physics and astrophysics, relying mostly on religion before that. Seeking to give humanity answers to the “big questions,” religion and mythology have offered various answers to the origin of the universe and its arrangement since prehistoric times, but these explanations have been replaced by contemporary scientific observations and theories.
However, it should not be assumed that the current scientific conception of cosmology is correct. While the big picture has remained the same since the 1920s, the specifications are often revised based on new observations and theories. Notably in the history of cosmology, the cosmic microwave background radiation was detected in 1964.
Modern cosmology has amassed massive evidence, such as the cosmic microwave background radiation, that the universe began with a huge explosion known as the Big Bang. This happened about 13.7 billion years ago. Starting from a singularity with zero volume and tremendous mass, the universe was born. Not only was matter ejected into space, but space itself originated with the Big Bang. When asked on a talk show “what happened before the Big Bang,” legendary physicist Stephen Hawking replied: “What is north of the North Pole?” indicating that the question was meaningless. However, some physicists consider it probable that our universe is a child universe of an earlier parent universe.
Our current observable universe is estimated to be about 90 billion light-years in diameter. That’s just the observable universe, however, and the entire universe can be much larger, or even infinite. Most physicists working in cosmology also argue that the universe is just one among many, embedded in a larger multiverse.
Recently, the anthropic idea has gained popularity within cosmology. Anthropic refers to the biases of the observer. Obviously, we are in a universe capable of supporting life. Physicists performed thought experiments in which fundamental physical constants were changed in small increments and concluded that many of these possible sets of physical laws would preclude the formation of stable planets or other requirements for life. Rather than suggesting that the universe was set up by a deity, this indicates that our universe is likely one in a huge set of largely lifeless universes.
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