Cosmology is the study of the large-scale structure and history of the universe. In particular, it deals with subjects regarding its origin and evolution. It is studied by Astronomy, Philosophy, and Religion. See also cosmogony.
Due to the extreme conditions believed to be present during the first minutes of the universe's history, cosmologists often co-operate with scientists from areas such as Particle physics.
Wright, Ned, "Cosmology tutorial and FAQ (http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm)". Division of Astronomy & Astrophysics, UCLA.
Jordan, Thomas F., "Cosmology calculations almost without general relativity (http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0309756)". (arXiv.org)
Madore, Barry F., "Level 5 (http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/) : A Knowledgebase for Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology". Caltech and Carnegie. Pasadena, California, USA.
Smith, Tony, "Cosmology (http://www.innerx.net/personal/tsmith/cosm.html) -- At the Millennium, Experimental Observations tell us a lot about Cosmology".
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Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cosmic Images (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-64)
Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cosmology from Antiquity to 1850 (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-66)
Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cosmology since 1850 (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-67)
Because the cosmological constant has negative pressure, according to general relativity a positive cosmological constant--which means empty space has positive energy--causes the expansion of empty space to accelerate (see dark energy for details).
Ironically, the cosmological constant is still of interest, as observations made in the late 1990's of distance-redshift relations indicate that the universe is accelerating.
This is the cosmological constant problem, the worst problem of fine-tuning in physics: there is no known natural way to derive the infinitesimal cosmological constant observed in cosmology from particle physics.
Currently, the theory of the cosmological history of the universe most widely accepted by astronomers arguably includes an apparent first event—the Big Bang—the immense explosion of all known matter and energy from a superdense point at some finite time in the past.
According to the cosmological argument, the cause of the first event would necessarily be a being which is capable of causing other events, but which is not itself caused.
Though contemporary versions of the cosmological argument assume that there was a beginning to this chain of causes, Aquinas' formulation did not make such an assumption, due to his view that it was impossible to prove that the universe did have a beginning.
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