Abstract

Physics is the science of inanimate matter. Cosmology is that part of this science that deals with the universe as a whole. It is the oldest and the youngest branch of physics. It is the oldest because the heavens were studied in the ancient times, in Greece and in Asia. It is the youngest because it has been re-invigorated in recent times due to observations with new, high resolution astronomical instrumentation (such as the Hubble telescope) and theoretical analyses in the context of current thinking in particle physics and relativistic dynamics. Voluminous works have been written on the order of the night sky. (The Greek word, ?Cosmology?, means ?order? (logos) of the cosmos.) Astronomical laboratories have been constructed since the ancient times to study this order. Examples are the Stonehenge monument, built by the ancient Britons thousands of years ago, and similar ancient astronomical viewing sites in India, China, Australia, Peru, Mexico, and from other cultures in the different corners of the world, designed by the ancient and aboriginal peoples to see the star formations and their locations, the locations of the sun and the moon, at the different times of the year. In these ancient viewings, there was no magnification.