The study of physics is one that is very popular in the world today, mostly because of how many different things have come from it. This is actually interesting to note, simply because physics was a subject that for the most part was on the decline at the start of the 20th century. After Newton had come up with his theories of universal gravitation and all of the work had stemmed from that, many people thought that everything there was to know in physics had already been discovered. This is of course a bad assumption to make when it comes to science and eventually they were proven to be wrong by something known as the quantum revolution.

Before the quantum revolution, the main reason that physics was dying out was because there was nothing left to research in practical terms. While the model of the atom proposed by Rutherford had generally been accepted as being the most accurate, at the same time there were a number of things that it did not explain. Quantum theory came about through the works of some of the most famous scientists in history such as Bohr, Einstein, de Broglie, Heisenberg and Schrödinger. These scientists were able to establish principals such as quantum numbers, the photoelectric effect, general and special relativity, the wave-particle duality of light, the uncertainty principle, the wave equation and many more that completely changed the way that physicists view the world.

Ever since the quantum revolution, physics has been alive and well. Research is carried out even to this day on quantum principles that were started by the scientists mentioned above. It is likely to go on for awhile as there is the general sense in the scientific community that the quantum revolution of the 20th century barely scratched the surface of what there is for us to learn about the universe. This makes physics an important subject in today’s world and ensures that it will remain so past our lifetimes.

What Astronomy is all about?

Ever since the start of time, man has looked up at the heavens and wondered what was up there. Whether you are a person that takes a look at the stars and just sighs with contentment or whether you are a person that can name every constellation off by heart, the inspiration that a person can get from astronomy remains the same. It is the heavenly science and it is the science of inspiration. The stuff that is studied by astronomers (stars, planets and galaxies) is quite literally the stuff of dreams.

This is one of the reasons that the space race between the former Soviet Union and the United States of America was so profound and such an important part of history. In the struggle between those two competing ideologies, they were actually united in agreement in that the ultimate epitome in their quest for greater knowledge was the fact that they would enter space. And not just enter space, but continue to move along until the point where everyone imaginable would be able to look up at the heavens and associate them with progress.

Political reasons aside though, there is this very great inspirational force behind space and space research; a force that is felt by every astronomer that decides to go into their field. If you talk to biologists or chemists, you will hear most of them say that they went into their science to save lives; a very noble goal, but not really one that identifies with the idea of infinite inspiration. However, if you talk to astronomers, you will hear them discuss the heavens, the cosmos and the infinite possibilities provided to us by space exploration and space research.

This, essentially, is what astronomy is. It is the study of stars and space and it allows people to learn about that which they have dreamed about all of their lives. Currently, research in astronomy relates to a number of different areas but the most popular stuff at the moment rests around planetary science and the search for planets around other stars. The technology is being developed as fast as the science in this area and at the current moment every new discovery is met with great excitement.

Cosmology - An Interesting Branch of Astronomy!

Cosmology is an interesting branch of astronomy that deals with trying to figure out the origins of our universe. One of the greatest questions that have driven scientists and in particular astronomers ever since the inception of the study and the body of knowledge has been the question of origins. This is something that all scientists must grapple with, but it is something that affects cosmology quite deeply because they are interested in the question of how, where and when the universe originated.

At the current moment in time, the theory that is given the most credence is the theory known as the Big Bang. The idea of the Big Bang is that all of the matter that we see in the universe today was concentrated in one infinitesimal point. Some sort of event occurred that matter to start expanding outward, which was initially done through the process of a large explosion that propelled matter outwards. The initial momentum from this explosion is what is carrying all of the matter outward and indeed the universe itself is continuing to expand to this day.

When this theory was initially presented, one of the first questions that was raised had to do with the concept of momentum. Empirical observation from telescopes has shown that the rate of expansion of the universe has been slowing down; in other words, the velocity of expansion is decelerating. The cosmologists know this because they can see with their telescopes that galaxies are moving away from each other at continually smaller rates.

This begs the question of what will happen once the universe stops expanding. Some people believe that it will just remain at the final size forever and the final stages of the big bang will have been accomplished. Others however believe that the universe might start to contract in on itself in a move opposite to the Big Bang; the Big Crunch, if you will. Nobody knows for sure and a lot of the research in cosmology is dedicated towards figuring it out.

This is what Mad Science is all about!