From Chaos to Creation

Abstract

We are now ready to look at the creation of the universe. As we discuss the details there may be things that surprise you. One that likely will is the infinitesimally small periods of time we will be dealing with. Also, you will likely wonder how scientists manage to describe things in such detail. It does, indeed, give one a strange feeling, talking about things that happened so long ago (18 billion years). As Steven Weinberg recently wrote, “I cannot deny the feeling of unreality in writing about the first three minutes as if we really knew what we were talking about.” The incredibly short times may not seem so strange, though, if you stop for a moment and think about an explosion here on Earth. If you wanted to describe it in detail, right down to what happened centimeter by centimeter as the blast moved outward, you would have to consider some pretty short times.