Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- About the Author -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Four Radical Shifts in Perspective -- 1.2 The Modern Shift -- References -- 2 The Expanding Universe -- 2.1 The Fabric of Space and Time -- 2.1.1 Maxwell's Conundrum and Einstein's Resolution -- 2.1.2 Space, Time, and Gravity -- 2.1.3 The Foundations of Cosmology -- 2.2 The Puzzle of the Nebulae -- 2.2.1 Celestial Fingerprints -- 2.2.2 A Cosmic Yardstick -- 2.2.3 A Universe That's Big and Getting Bigger -- References -- 3 The Discovery of the Big Bang -- 3.1 Bright but Very Rapid Fireworks -- 3.2 The Fireball's Fossils -- 3.2.1 The Star-Stuff Conundrum -- 3.2.2 Back to the Nucleon Soup -- 3.2.3 Continuous Creation? or a Big Bang? -- 3.3 The Big Bang's Afterglow -- References -- 4 Behind the Veil -- 4.1 Grand Unified Cosmology -- 4.1.1 The Two Standard Models -- 4.1.2 Cosmic Phase Transitions -- 4.1.3 The Quark Epoch: 10-5 s -- 4.1.4 The Electroweak Epoch: 10-12 s -- 4.1.5 The Grand Unification Epoch: 10-36 s -- 4.2 Cosmic Inflation -- 4.2.1 A Spectacular Realization -- 4.2.2 New Inflation-With Lumps -- 4.3 Eternal Inflation, the Multiverse, and the Anthropic Principle -- 4.4 Alternatives to the Multiverse? -- References -- 5 The Dark Universe -- 5.1 Dark Matter -- 5.1.1 Missing Mass -- 5.1.2 MACHOs, MOND, or WIMPs? -- 5.1.3 The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe -- 5.2 Dark Energy -- 5.2.1 Was Einstein |