As discussed in my previous post, the accidental discovery of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson would prove to be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the early twentieth century. One of the first things it achieved was to provide confirmation of the big bang theory. The telescope… Continue reading The cosmic microwave background part II
Tag: Cosmology
The cosmic microwave background: part I
In 1964 two young American radio astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, made an accidental finding which would win them both the Nobel prize and turned out to be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the twentieth century. The story started when Penzias and Wilson were given observing time on a large radio telescope at Bell Labs in New… Continue reading The cosmic microwave background: part I
The Steady State Theory
This post, the latest in my series about cosmology, talks about the Steady State theory. This is an elegant alternative theory to the Big Bang, which was very popular among astronomers in the 1950s, but is now obsolete. Updated 24 November 2025 What is the Steady State Theory? The Big Bang theory states that the… Continue reading The Steady State Theory
Ultimate Fate of the Universe.
This post, which is the latest in my series on cosmology, is about the ultimate fate of the Universe, a subject which has engaged scientists, philosophers and religious leaders for centuries. There are many possible endings to the Universe, but the outline I will present here, which is sometimes called "The Big Freeze", is the most commonly held… Continue reading Ultimate Fate of the Universe.
Dark Matter
Revised and re-written 11 December 2025 This post about dark matter and is part of my series on cosmology, the study of the origin and evolution of the Universe as a whole. As readers of Dark Energy in the Universe will recall, dark matter makes up about 27% per cent of the mass of the Universe. Evidence for… Continue reading Dark Matter
Explaining Science 