Cosmology (from
the Greek κόσμος, kosmos "world" and -λογία, -logia "study
of"), is the study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the
universe. Physical cosmology is the scholarly and scientific study of the
origin, evolution, large-scale structures and dynamics, and ultimate fate of
the universe, as well as the scientific laws that govern these realities.
Religious cosmology (or mythological cosmology) is a body of beliefs based on
the historical, mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions
of creation and eschatology.
Physical cosmology is studied by scientists, such as
astronomers, and theoretical physicists; and academic philosophers, such as
metaphysicians, philosophers of physics, and philosophers of space and time.
Modern cosmology is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which attempts to bring
together observational astronomy and particle physics.
Although the word cosmology is recent (first used in 1730 in
Christian Wolff's Cosmologia Generalis), the study of the universe has a long
history involving science, philosophy, esotericism and religion. Related
studies include cosmogony, which focuses on the origin of the Universe, and
cosmography, which maps the features of the Universe. Cosmology is also
connected to astronomy, but while the former is concerned with the Universe as
a whole, the latter deals with individual celestial objects.
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