Description
This course will look at our conceptions of the universe from primal chaos in ancient times through the Big Bang to the present era of precision cosmology. It will explore the Big Bang, the expansion of the universe, dark matter, dark energy, cosmic inflation and the ultimate fate of the universe, along with the discovery of exoplanets and the search for life on other worlds. It will introduce some lesser-known individuals including a mule-team driver and a high school dropout who was given a coveted scientific staff position at Mt. Wilson observatory and made many key observations that helped to establish the expansion of the universe.
