What is Cosmology?
Cosmology is one of the most exciting disciplines in all
of physical science. It is concerned not so much with individual stars
or galaxies in their own right, but rather with the properties of the Universe
as a whole: its origin, evolution and eventual fate.
Cosmologists work to understand how the Universe came into
being, why it looks as it does now, and what the future holds. They make
astronomical observations that probe billions of years into the past, to
the edge of the knowable Universe. They seek the bases of scientific understanding,
using the tools of modern physics, and fashion theories that provide unified
and testable models of the evolution of the Universe from its creation
to the present, and into the future.