100 Years of Cosmology: From Spiral Nebulae to The Cosmic Microwave Background

Dr. Michael Way
(NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, USA)
Dienstag/Tuesday, 2011-07-05 14:00, EW809/10
Eugene-Paul-Wigner Gebäude (Physik-Neubau), Hardenbergstr. 36, 10623 Berlin

Abstract

I will discuss the complicated history of the prediction and discovery of the expansion of the universe and, of course, the cosmic microwave background. We'll start with the “nebulae” observations of Slipher in 1912 and end up with the 2006 Nobel Prize. I will also show that some of the common wisdom today is incorrect with respect to the credit given to various “titans” of Astronomy in this field.