Technology Has Influenced Our Understanding Of The Nature And Origin Of The Universe Essay
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Technology has influenced our interpretation of the origin and nature of the universe starting in the early 1900's and continuing on until today. Technology continues to influence as people are willing to create and modify it. Applied science continues to advance and change bringing along with it changes in our theories about the evolution of this and other galaxies.
In 1912 an astronomer named Vesto Slipher noted in his observances that all the spiral galaxies that he observed had a red-shifted spectrum. Using an instrument that splits light waves into spectrums, he split the light waves from the galaxies. In this way he was able to measure if a galaxy is moving and if it is moving away or toward us. If a galaxy is moving toward us, the light waves will appear bluer (shorter wavelengths) and if they are moving away from us they will appear redder (longer wavelengths).
In the early twenties Edwin Hubble used the technology of wavelengths developed by Slipher and realized that there was a definite trend of the galaxies moving away from us at a velocity directly proportionate to their distance. This brought about the first evidence that we live in a constantly evolving universe. This was the first observational analysis to suggest an initial starting point to the universe. He used a ground-based telescope to investigate the masses of stars called nebulae to help with proving his theories. In the twenties some believed that we were all part of one huge galaxy and still others believed that the possibility of a whole world of galaxies outside our own was conceivable. What Edwin Hubble observed with his telescope led him to theorize that galaxies all began from a very densely compacted matter that exploded. In 1929 he professed we were in a universe that was a billion light years across and that every part was moving away from every other part at speeds of 100 million miles an hour. These observations gave birth to the Big Bang theory and was an incredible feat for a time that had only inefficient telescopes and astronomical instruments.
In the early part of the 1960's two scientists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were looking for the remnants that would inevitably be left behind if the Big Bang theory were to be true. The year 1964 brought an announcement that they had found the energy left over from the big bang. Incredibly their findings were close to what several others had theorized quite extemporaneously years prior. Unfortunately in the interest of finding answers in the most timely manner those finds went unnoticed. When the two scientists, Penzias and Wilson, published their short article it was seen as validation of the Big Bang theory and they won a Nobel Prize for their breakthrough pertaining to left over radiation.
Technology advanced markedly in 1989. The United States launched the COBE satellite. The satellite was to look for particulars of the cosmic background radiation. At this point things took a turn toward the confusing. The radiation appeared too smooth to have been the source of stars or galaxies. Unless there were some deviations in the original temperatures in outer space there would have been no rationality for matter to cluster and create the stars.
Again, the scientific community advanced its technologic abilities in 1992. George Smoot and others proclaimed they had found temperature variations in the radiation data. Many assumed that the big bang theory had been proved. The only thing established was that the words "proved" and "Science" in the same sentence was still an oxymoron. There still seems to be some "missing mass" making up what some theorize to be 90% of all matter in the universe. Technology at this point is unable to explain that. Any theory of galaxy formation needs to provide an answer to other questions. What is the structure that makes up the "walls" that are separated by "voids"found in the swirling pools of stars? What caused the "clumpiness" of the universe?
Named after Edwin Hubble in 1990 the Hubble telescope was sent into the atmosphere to do what was previously impossible due to limited clarity and resolution. The Hubble telescope has advanced science by vast amounts. It has been able to provide clear images of quasars, detect...
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