Philosophical Speculations and Myths

Cosmological thought recorded in diverse cultures during past millennia displays a continued fascination with a relatively small number of fundamental questions about the physical universe and our place within it. Many attempts to provide satisfying answers have been made, It is not appropriate to present here a comparative survey of the myriad world views that have been proposed, but there is value in understanding those issues raised by early thought that are still at the core of modern scientific cosmology. 

Logically, the first issue is that of order versus chaos. Indeed, the word cosmology implies an affirmative answer to the question of whether the totality of physical experience can be comprehended in a meaningful pattern. We should be aware, however, that adherents of the view that nature is fundamentally inscrutable or capricious have presented their arguments in many cultures throughout recorded history. 

Is matter everywhere in the universe of the same type as that which is familiar to us on earth, or are there some distinctively celestial substances Speculations favoring one view or the other have been stated with assurance as long as humans have engaged in intellectual debate. 

Is the universe immutable in its total structure, or does it evolve with the passage of cosmic time If the latter, did it have a creation in time, or has it always existed Similarly, will a changing cosmos continue forever, or will there be an end to time that we can experience Such questions have sometimes been distinguished from the structural questions of cosmology and said to be of a different order called cosmogony. We shall see that in scientific cosmology such a separation is artificial and unproductive. Indeed, all the questions posed in this section are, in all current scientific models, inextricably interrelated. 

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