Cosmic Chemistry: Cosmogony

Big Bang, quarks, dark matter, general relativity, red-shift, non-Euclidean geometry, worm holes—all words that are mysterious in their details, but often translated into the vernacular with relative ease by journalists and science writers. These words form part of the core of the science of cosmology, a science in which the questions usually are easy to state, but equally difficult to answer. Questions like, “Has the universe existed forever?” or “Is there an edge to the universe?” or “Where did the matter in the universe come from?” are good examples. Each culture that has existed formulated answers to questions like these. Until the 20 century, the answers were rooted exclusively in superstition, philosophy, or religious belief. In the 20 century, science began to provide a few answers, although it was not until the latter part of the century that cosmology itself began to be widely recognized as a science.