Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-dvmhs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-05T12:52:45.771Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - The “great controversy” (1948–1965) and epistemological issues it raised

from Part I - Physical cosmology: A brief introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2024

Slobodan Perovic
Affiliation:
University of Belgrade
Milan M. Cirkovic
Affiliation:
Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, Serbia
Get access

Summary

The chapter discusses the “great controversy” of modern cosmology. The controversy began after World War II and lasted for a couple of decades. In the controversy, the proponents of various iterations of the steady-state theory of the universe collided with the pioneers of the emerging big-bang expanding universe theory. The latter theory triumphed, while establishing empirical standards of cosmological theories and breaking the stigma of cosmology as an unscientific subject that lurked in the science community. Parsimonious observational criteria were devised for the key cosmological parameters, including the age of the universe, source counts, redshift–magnitude relation, and redshift–angular size relationship. The chapter also discusses how the relation between redshift in the spectrum and magnitude was pioneered by Hubble and slowly perfected by tests on different celestial objects, from galaxies to Type Ia supernova stars.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cosmic Microwave Background
Historical and Philosophical Lessons
, pp. 9 - 12
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×