Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the
cosmos or the
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the univers ...
.
Overview
Scientific theories
In
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in reference to the origin of the universe, the
Solar System
The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
, or the
Earth–Moon system.
The prevalent
cosmological model of the early development of the
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the univers ...
is the
Big Bang theory.
Sean M. Carroll
Sean Michael Carroll (born October 5, 1966) is an American theoretical physicist and philosopher who specializes in quantum mechanics, gravity, and cosmology. He is (formerly) a research professor in the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical ...
, who specializes in
theoretical cosmology and
field theory, explains two competing explanations for the origins of the
singularity, which is the center of a space in which a characteristic is limitless.
(One example of a singularity is the singularity of a
black hole, where
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
becomes infinite.)
It is generally accepted that the universe began at a point of singularity. When the singularity of the universe started to expand, the Big Bang occurred, which evidently began the universe. The other explanation, held by proponents such as
Stephen Hawking, asserts that time did not exist when it emerged along with the universe. This assertion implies that the universe does not have a beginning, as time did not exist "prior" to the universe. Hence, it is unclear whether properties such as space or time emerged with the singularity and the known universe.
Despite the research, there is currently no theoretical model that explains the earliest moments of the universe's existence (during the
Planck epoch) due to a lack of a testable theory of
quantum gravity. Nevertheless, researchers of
string theory, its extensions (such as
M-theory
M-theory is a theory in physics that unifies all consistent versions of superstring theory. Edward Witten first conjectured the existence of such a theory at a string theory conference at the University of Southern California in 1995. Witt ...
), and of
loop quantum cosmology, like
Barton Zwiebach and Washington Taylor, have proposed solutions to assist in the explanation of the universe's earliest moments. Cosmogonists have only tentative theories for the early stages of the universe and its beginning. The proposed theoretical scenarios include
string theory, M-theory, the
Hartle—Hawking initial state,
string landscape
The string theory landscape or landscape of vacua refers to the collection of possible false vacua in string theory,The number of metastable vacua is not known exactly, but commonly quoted estimates are of the order 10500. See M. Douglas, "The ...
,
cosmic inflation, the
Big Bang, and the
ekpyrotic universe. Some of these proposed scenarios, like the
string theory, are compatible, whereas others are not.
Mythology
In mythology,
creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
*Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
*Creationism, the belief that ...
or cosmogonic myths are narratives describing the beginning of the
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the univers ...
or
cosmos.
Some methods of the creation of the universe in mythology include:
* the will or action of a
supreme being or beings,
* the process of
metamorphosis,
* the copulation of female and male
deities,
* from
chaos,
* or via a
cosmic egg.
Creation myths may be
etiological, attempting to provide explanations for the origin of the universe. For instance,
Eridu Genesis, the oldest known creation myth, contains an account of the creation of the world in which the universe was created out of a primeval sea (
Abzu
The Abzu or Apsu ( Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ), also called (Cuneiform:, ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: — ='water' ='deep', recorded in Greek as ), is the name for fresh water from underground aquifers which was given a religious fertilising qualit ...
). Creation myths vary, but they may share similar
deities or
symbols. For instance, the ruler of the gods in
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...
,
Zeus, is similar to the ruler of the gods in
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...
,
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
.
Another example is the ruler of the gods in Tagalog mythology,
Bathala, who is similar to various rulers of certain pantheons within
Philippine mythology
Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...
such as the Bisaya's
Kaptan.
Compared with cosmology
In the humanities, the distinction between cosmogony and cosmology is blurred. For example, in theology, the
cosmological argument
A cosmological argument, in natural theology, is an argument which claims that the existence of God can be inferred from facts concerning causation, explanation, change, motion, contingency, dependency, or finitude with respect to the universe ...
for the existence of God (pre-cosmic cosmogonic bearer of
personhood) is an appeal to ideas concerning the origin of the universe and is thus cosmogonical.
Some religious cosmogonies have an impersonal first cause (for example
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
).
However, in astronomy, cosmogony can be distinguished from
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
, which studies the universe and its existence, but does not necessarily inquire into its origins. There is therefore a scientific distinction between cosmological and cosmogonical ideas.
Physical cosmology is the science that attempts to explain all observations relevant to the development and characteristics of the universe on its largest scale. Some questions regarding the behaviour of the universe have been described by some physicists and cosmologists as being
extra-scientific or
metaphysical
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
. Attempted solutions to such questions may include the extrapolation of scientific theories to untested regimes (such as the
Planck epoch), or the inclusion of philosophical or religious ideas.
See also
*
*
*
*
*
Why there is anything at all
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Creation myths
Greek words and phrases
Natural philosophy
Origins
Physical cosmology
Concepts in astronomy