Name: _________________________________

Year and Section: _______________________

EARTH SCIENCE 11 HANDOUT

THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

1. CYCLICAL OR OSCILLATING UNIVERSE

Rigveda – Hindu ancient text that described the universe as cyclical or oscillating.
Brahmanda – “cosmic egg” contains the whole universe and all of space expands out of a single concentrated
point called “Bindu” before collapsing again.
Is any of several cosmological models in which the universe follows infinite, or indefinite, self-sustaining
cycles. For example, the oscillating universe theory briefly considered by Albert Einstein in 1930 theorized a
universe following an eternal series of oscillations
2. PRIMORDIAL UNIVERSE
Anaxagoras – believed that the original state of the cosmos was a primordial mixture of all its ingredients,
which existed in infinitesimally small fragments of themselves.
Mixture was set in motion by the action of “nous” or mind, and the whirling motion shifted and separated out the
ingredients, ultimately producing the cosmos of separate material objects, all with different properties.
CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
-An experiments using heavy ions for the advance understanding of Primordial Universe.
HOW IT WORKS?
Quarks and Gluons — basic building blocks of matter — were not confined inside composite particles (protons
and neutrons) instead, they moved freely in a state of matter known as ‘quark-gluon plasma’.
Collisions of lead ions in the LHC, recreate for a fleeting moment conditions similar to those of the early
Universe. By examining a billion or so of these collisions, the experiments have been able to make more precise
measurements of the properties of matter under these extreme conditions.
3. ATOMIC UNIVERSE
Leucippus of Miletus and Democritus - founded the school of Atomism.
They believe that the universe was composed of very small, indivisible and indestructible building blocks
known as atoms.
All of the objects in the universe are composed of different arrangements of these eternal atoms and an infinite
void in which they form different combinations and shapes.
4. ARISTOTELIAN UNIVERSE
Aristotle – proposed geocentric universe.
Universe is divided into two parts:
1. Earth (corrupt and changeable) and
2. Heavens (perfect, immutable, incorruptible and eternal)
Aristotle believed that all things below the spheres of the moon are made up of four terrestrial elements: earth,
fire, water and air.
Heavens were composed of Quintessence (fifth element – purer element)
Aristotle thought that the Earth was surrounded by 56 spheres of the heavens.
According to Aristotle, the Earth was spherical because of the following arguments:
1. During a lunar eclipse, the shape of the Earth’s shadow cast upon the Moon indicates a circular shape.
2. As one moves north or south on Earth, new constellations become visible.
3. All objects on the surface of a sphere fall toward its center.
5. STOIC UNIVERSE

-The idea of Stoicism started when Zeno, a native of Citium, founded the first school of Stoicism.
-Stoic philosophers believed that the universe is a finite cosmos that is surrounded by an infinite void.
Stoic philosophers – believed in a kind of island universe in which a finite cosmos is surrounded by an infinite
void.
In the Stoic view, the universe is like a giant living body, with its leading part being the stars and the Sun, but in
which all parts are interconnected, so that what happens in one place affects what happens elsewhere.
6. PTOLEMAIC UNIVERSE
The idea of an Earth-centered universe started with Aristotle and Plato.
Aristarchus suggested a heliocentric model, however Aristotle argued with the said idea.
Claudius Ptolemy combined the ideas from Hipparchus and other Greek philosophers to postulate a geocentric
model of the universe, named as Ptolemaic model to honor his name.
The Ptolemaic model was embraced by the Church because of their beliefs.
“The world also is established, that it cannot be moved.” – Psalm 93:1
Ptolemy’s model was at its reign until, Nicolaus Copernicus opposed his model and created a Sun-centered
universe.

Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy)

- An Alexandrian astronomer and mathematician, author of “Almagest”.
Believed that the universe is geocentric, in which the Earth is the center of the whole. He described a geocentric
model of the universe based on the theory of Aristotle in which the planets and the rest of the universe orbit a
stationary earth in circular epicycles.
ALMAGEST
The book covering from the summary of the observed motions of the planets to a detailed motion of the Sun
and the Moon.
THREE BASIC PRINCIPLES
1. The Earth is at rest and all celestial bodies are in motion.
2. All celestial motions are circular.
3. The celestial motions in the form of circles are uniform, which is the speed of a celestial object as it describes a
circle remains the same.

7. HELIOCENTRIC UNIVERSE
Aristarchus – first person who proposed the heliocentric model.
-He described the Earth as rotating daily on its axis and revolving annually around the Sun in a circular
orbit along with a sphere of fixed stars.
-He come up with the idea that the sun is larger than the Earth.

Nicolaus Copernicus objected the geocentric model and postulated a heliocentric, Sun-centered model of the
universe.
His book, “On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres,” was disregarded by the Catholic Church and was included
in the Index, a list of prohibited books.
Galileo Galilei upheld the idea, in which he observed that the moons of Venus are revolving around the Planet
through the telescope.

Hipparchus – described epicycle motion of planets

Epicycle - a small circle on which a planet moves whose center in turn moves around the Earth following a
larger circle called “deferent”

8. ABRAHAMIC UNIVERSE
- An idea of a universe which was finite in time.
John Philoponus (of Alexandria, a Christian philosopher)
– contended against the ancient Greek notion of an infinite past.
– the first commentator to contend that the universe is limited in time and consequently had a start.
- 9th, 10th, and 11th century (respectively):
Al-Kindi (early Muslim theologist), Saadia Gaon (Jewish philosopher), and Al-Ghazali (early Muslim
theologist) – offered logical arguments supporting a finite universe
Abrahamic Universe theory is a based on Biblical beliefs and religion. (Bible, Qur’an, Torah)

9. PARTIALLY HELIOCENTRIC UNIVERSE

Somayaji Nilakantha (of Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics in southern India)
- developed a computational system for a partially heliocentric planetary model in which Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn orbited the Sun, which in turn orbited the Earth
Tycho Brahe (Danish nobleman)
- made the most accurate measurements of the planet and stars
Nilakantha revised Aryabhata's model for the planets Mercury and Venus
- Aryabhata described a geocentric model of the solar system in which the Sun and Moon are each carried by
epicycles. They in turn revolve around the Earth
- The motions of the planets are each governed by two epicycles
- Order of the planets from earth: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the asterisms
- The positions and periods of the planets was calculated relative to uniformly moving points.
10. COPERNICAN UNIVERSE
- It positioned the Sun near the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets rotating
around it in circular paths modified by epicycles and at uniform speeds.
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium - “On the revolution of heavenly spheres”
- presented a discussion of a heliocentric model of the universe in much the same way as Ptolemy in the 2nd
century had presented his geocentric model in his Almagest.

The major features of Copernican theory are:

A. Heavenly motions are uniform, eternal, and circular or compounded of several circles (epicycles).
B. The center of the universe is near the Sun.
C. Around the Sun, in order, are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the fixed stars.
D. The Earth has three motions: daily rotation, annual revolution, and annual tilting of its axis.
E. Retrograde motion of the planets is explained by the Earth's motion.
F. The distance from the Earth to the Sun is small compared to the distance to the stars.
11. CARTESIAN VORTEX UNIVERSE
René Descartes – outlined a model of the universe with many of the characteristic of Newton’s static, infinite
universe.
According to Descartes, the vacuum of space was not empty at all but was filled with matter that swirled
around in large and small vortices. His model involved a system of huge swirling whirlpools of fine matter
producing what would later be called gravitational effects.
– attempted to figure out the enigma of gravity and the necessity of a medium in space for any function to happen
(including gravitation) with the "Vortex" Theory of colliding particles which hypothesized that the collisions
supply the force that pushed the planets towards the Sun.
12. STATIC NEWTONIAN UNIVERSE

Sir Isaac Newton –published his book “Principia” which described a static steady state, infinite universe.
In Newton’s universe, matter on the large scale is uniformly distributed and the universe is gravitationally
balanced but essentially unstable.

Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation

2nd Law (Law of Acceleration)
– implies that a force must be pulling the object downward.
3rd Law (Law of Interaction)
– states that if the Earth is pulling the object downward, then the object should pull the Earth upward.
13. HIERARCHICAL UNIVERSE AND THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS

Dark Energy
- Albert Einstein was the first person to realize that empty space is not nothing.
- it is a new kind of dynamical energy fluid or field, something that fills all of space but something whose effect
on the expansion of the Universe is the opposite of that of matter and normal energy.
- Some theorists have named this "quintessence," after the fifth element of the Greek philosophers.
Cosmological constant
– empty space can possess its own energy. As more space comes into existence, more of this energy-of-space
would appear. This energy would cause the Universe to expand faster and faster.
According to this Hierarchical theory, The matter within this universe is clustered on larger scales of
hierarchy and this endlessly being recycled.
On the other hand, The Nebular Hypothesis which was proposed in 1734 by Emanual Swedenborg stated
that solar system if formed by nebular material.

Immanuel Kant further explained the hypothesis and published it in his book Universal Natural History and
Theory of the Heavens in 1755.
Step by Step Process:
1. The sun and the planets of the the solar system all began as a huge cloud of molecular gas and dust called solar
nebula.
2. Almost 5 billion years ago, the solar nebula slowly contracts due to its gravitation. It began forming a disk and
inside the disk, the temperature increases until a protosun was made.
3. Lighter gases were swept away, heavy materials came close to the sun.
4. A process called accretion occurred and planets were made.
5. Terrestrial planets are smaller in size than the gaseous planets.
6. Excess debris became now as the asteroid belt, Kuiper belt and Oort cloud.
7. Lighter gases were swept away, heavy materials came close to the sun.
8. A process called accretion occurred and planets were made.
9. Terrestrial planets are smaller in size than the gaseous planets.
10. Excess debris became now as the asteroid belt, Kuiper belt and Oort cloud.

14. EINSTENIAN UNIVERSE

“A cosmological model in which the universe is both spatially infinite and temporally infinite, and space is
neither expanding nor contracting.” -Static Newtonian Universe
In contrast to this model, Albert Einstein proposed a temporally infinite but spatially finite model as his
preferred cosmology in 1917, in his paper Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity

Albert Einstein assumed in his theory of gravity that the universe was static, dynamically stable universe,
which was neither expanding nor contracting. He abandoned this part of the theory when Edwin Hubble in 1929
showed that the universe was not static.

CURVATURE OF SPACE-TIME
Einstein concluded that gravity, inertia, and acceleration are all associated with the relation of space and time. The
theory explains a gravitational field as a curved region of space-time. Mass instructs space-time how to curve and
the curvature of space-time, which is gravity, tells mass how to accelerate.

15. STEADY STATE UNIVERSE THEORY

the theory was first put forward by James Jeans around 1920.

Steady State theory propose the idea that the universe looks the same no matter the viewpoint and that the
universe has always looked like this; essentially, the theory states that the universe is uniform throughout both
time and space.
Problems with the Steady State Theory began to emerge in the late 1960s, when observations apparently
supported the idea that the universe was in fact changing.
16. BIGBANG THEORY OF UNIVERSE
The theory states that about 13.7 billion years ago, all the matter in the universe was concentrated into a single
cell called SINGULARITY.

BIG BANG deals with EXPANSION and not EXPLOSION.

The Big Bang theory – describes the universe as originating in an infinitely tiny, infinitely dense point of
singularity between 13 to 14 billion years ago.
The essential statement of the theory is usually attributed to the Belgian Roman catholic priest Georges Henri
Joseph Edouard Lemaitre in 1927 even before Hubble’s corroborating evidence.
THREE UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS OF THE BIG BANG MODEL

1. FLATNESS – The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) revealed the geometry of the universe to
be nearly flat. However, under the big bang theory, there should be curvature as time grows.
2. MONOPOLE – The big bang theory predicts the production of heavy stable magnetic monopoles in the early
universe. However, no magnetic monopoles have been observed.
3. HORIZON – Based on the big bang expansion, distant regions of space in opposite directions of the sky are so
far apart that they could never have been in causal contact with each other. However, the evidence showing the
uniformity of cosmic microwave background temperature shows that these regions must have been in contact with
each other in the past.
17. INFLATION UNIVERSE THEORY
Inflation Theory was developed by Alan Guth, Andrei Linde, Paul Steinhardt, and Andy Albrecht.
It proposes a period of extremely rapid (exponential) expansion of the universe prior to the more gradual
Big Bang expansion, during which time the energy density of the universe was dominated by a cosmological
constant -type of vacuum energy that later decayed to produce the matter and radiation that fill the universe
today. Or simply, the Inflation Theory proposes a period of extremely rapid (exponential) expansion of the
universe during its first few moments.
It was developed around 1980 to explain several puzzles with the standard Big Bang theory, in which the universe
expands relatively gradually throughout its history.

18. MULTIVERSE THEORY

The theory of the inflationary multiverse changes the way we think about our place in the world.
According to its most popular version, our world may consist of infinitely many exponentially large parts,
exhibiting different sets of low-energy laws of physics.
Since these parts are extremely large, the interior of each of them behaves as if it were a separate universe,
practically unaffected by the rest of the world.

The multiverse is a theory in which our universe is not the only one, but states that many universes exist
parallel to each other. These distinct universes within the multiverse theory are called parallel universes. A
variety of different theories lend themselves to a multiverse viewpoint.
Parallel Universes – a theory in which our universe is not the only one, but states that many universes exist
parallel to each other.
M – Theory – the origin of the universe occurs the result of the contact of two hyperdimensional branes.
 THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The earliest accounts of how the Sun, the Earth and the rest of the solar system were formed are to be found in
early myths, legends and religious text.

The Genesis of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic Faiths

Genesis, the first book of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible, contains two origin stories, both of
which are accepted as the creation of the world by today's Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths. In the first, God
says, "Let there be light," and light appears. In six days, he creates the sky, the land, plants, the sun and moon,
animals, and all creatures, including humans.

1. NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS
Developed by Immanuel Kant
-The most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to explain the formation and evolution of the Solar
System.
-“The sun and its planets supposedly condensed out of swirling eddies of cold, dark, interstellar clouds of gas and
dust”
-Published on his book “Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens”.
2. FISSION THEORY
The "fission theory" says that our sun burst one day, and all our planets came from it.

ORIGIN OF THE MOON:

The moons shot out from each planet, stopped, turned sideways and began circling the planets they came out of.
Our moon is said to have emerged from an explosion in the Pacific Ocean.

3. CAPTURE THEORY
“A theory of the origin of the Solar System is described which involves the capture of material from a light
diffuse star which passed close to the Sun.”
The "capture theory" says that our planets and moons were wandering around in space and the planets were
captured by the gravity of our sun, and the moons were captured by the planets.

4. ACCRETION THEORY
Accretion/ Condensation /nebular contraction," or "dust cloud"
theory says that small chunks of material separately formed themselves into our earth and the moon.
"According to this idea, a dust cloud began to rotate. . When the mass had swept up most of the material in an
eddy, a planet was formed."—*M. Bishop, *B. Sutherland, and *P. Lewis, Focus on Earth Science (1981), p.
470.
5. PLANETARY COLLSION THEORY
The "collision theory" of the origin our moon theorizes that our world is said to have collided with a small planet.
The resulting explosion threw off rocks which formed our orbiting moon.

6. STELLAR COLLSION THEORY|

The "collision theory" of the origin of our entire solar system suggests that our planets, moons, and sun all spun
off from a collision between stars.
7. GAS CLOUD THEORY
The "gas cloud theory" of our planets and moons teaches that gas clouds were captured by our sun, which then
mysteriously formed themselves at a distance into planets and moons.

-Prepared by Sir Dex