Cosmology: The History and Nature of Our Universe

Evidence for the birth of the universe is raining down on you. It's called the cosmic microwave background, and it's had quite a journey. Born in the stupendous annihilation of matter and antimatter seconds after the big bang, trapped in the hot plasma of the expanding universe for 380,000 years, and then suddenly released when the universe cooled to the point that atoms could form, this echo of creation has been on an uninterrupted voyage through space for 13.7 billion years-until it reached you. The cosmic microwave background is just one of the many clues about the history and nature of our universe that make the science of cosmology a wondrous, fascinating, and philosophically profound field of study. Cosmology: The History and Nature of Our Universe introduces you to the biggest story of all in 36 half-hour lectures that cover the origin, evolution, composition, and probable fate of our universe. This detailed and accessible course, presented by award-winning Professor Mark Whittle of the University of Virginia, incorporates more than 1,700 stunning illustrations. The Perfect Time to Learn Cosmology An expert on the dynamics of supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies, Professor Whittle is an astronomer with a gift for making his subject vivid, understandable, and awe inspiring. For example, in explaining the vastness of the universe, he asks you to imagine yourself as a stupendous giant making billion-light-year strides through the cosmos, hour after hour. Even at this ultra-warp-drive pace, you would always find yourself in the middle of a uniform mist of galaxies with no end in sight. Professor Whittle notes that we are the first generation ever to know in detail just how the universe came to be. Right now is the perfect time to learn cosmology, since researchers have just completed the work on more than a decade of breathtaking discoveries.