Big+Bang+Homework

=Write a Paragraph: How was the evidence for the Big Bang discovered?=

Mary Collins 10/3/2012

Write a paragraph made __#|up of__ 8 sentences that tells the evolution of our understanding about the nature of the universe. Start with the evidence described by Ptolemy and move through history to include the findings of Brahe, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Leavitt, Hubble, & Penzias and Wilson. Conclude with a 9th sentence that answers the question: How does knowing about the Big Bang shape my understanding of the future?

Ptolemy had an earth centered view of the universe, with the sun orbiting around the earth he lived from 85CE-163CE. Tyco Brahe 1546-1601 was the last astronomer to observe using only his eyes and he proved that stars moved and previous fixed beliefs were wrong, though he still thought the earth was the center. Copernicus 1473-1543 launched modern astronomy by coming up with comprehensive sun centered cosmology and by using a metal tube to observe, as no telescope had yet been invented. Galilleo Gallilei lived from 1564-1642. proved that Copernicus was correct and was imprisoned by the pope and later under house arrest for his heliocentric view by the Catholic Church and Inquisition. Newton 1643-1727 may be best known for his evidence of gravity and laws of universal motion leading him to conclude that everything, including planets were subject to these universal laws and orbited accordingly around the sun. Henrietta Levitt lived from 1868-1921 and developed and published work on the brightness of stars and their "periods" in order to determine how far away stars are from earth, leading to the understanding that additional galaxies exist and the we could begin mapping the universe. Edwin Hubble 1889-1953 llaid the foundations for the big bang theory while discovering that the universe is much larger than we thought and that is is expanding. The Big Bang shapes my understanding of the future because I recognize that the process is ongoing and evolving, it is not static, and as we learn how to go back to the beginning we can understand how dynamic new "bangs" may occur now and in the future.