Just imagine: according to our current understanding, the universe originated about 13.8 billion years ago. It expanded and cooled and somehow it happened that this universe is flat. This means that Euclidean geometry applies, meaning that the sum of the interior angles in a triangle is 180 degrees, no more and no less. Moreover, all the natural constants in this universe are so precisely coordinated that over the billions of years since the beginning of the universe, stars and galaxies have been able to form, and these galaxies have been able to clump together to form galaxy clusters and even larger ones. Structures. The universe is not empty because everything is disintegrating very quickly, nor is it made up of a large black hole because gravity is very strong. Finally, there are plenty of heavier elements from which planets surrounding stars could form, and exactly one of these planets contains life, including us.
Could all this be a coincidence?
I have to admit that I was hoping to discuss this very question, under the heading “Is it all a coincidence?” In this case, I was unfortunately a bit disappointed, although it is quite clear that there can be no clear yes/no answer to this question. Authors Eric Bertram and Dominika Wilesalek address exactly this aspect at the end of the book – after an entertaining journey of discovery through the universe and the ways in which one might discover it in the first place. Wilesalek is more interested in observational astronomy, while Bertram is interested in theoretical astrophysics. Fortunately, the book tells you not only why the James Webb Space Telescope — and other large telescopes — are important for astronomical research, it also tells you the basics of how astrophysical and cosmological simulations work: “sources of knowledge,” as the authors say. We call it.
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