Explaining how it all began

Submitted by Arts & Sciences Web Team on

 

 

Professor Emeritus Bruce Balick invites guest speakers from the humanities and social sciences to share origin stories from cultures around the world. (MEDIA CREDIT: NICHOLAS BRAGG)

Some say the Universe began with a ‘Big Bang,’ causing space to expand faster than the speed of light. Others believe a higher power summoned light and life. Still others credit a raven who stole a ball of light, spilling it as he flew off. Humans have pondered our origins for millennia, developing myriad stories and theories to explain life’s greatest mystery.

In “Cosmologies and Cultures,” an undergraduate course in the Department of Astronomy, students are introduced to the Big Bang theory of cosmology, which suggests that the Universe began with a hot, dense energy mass that began to expand 13.8 billion years ago. But students also learn other origin stories from cultures around the world. Bruce Balick, professor emeritus of astronomy, developed and teaches the course.

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