Abstract
Cosmology is the study of the universe and is concerned with its evolution and future course. The most widely held view among scientific cosmologists, known as the Big Bang theory, is that the universe began in a compressed high density and high energy state followed by rapid expansion about 13.8 million years ago. A phase of exponential expansion then followed in which the density and temperature of the universe decreased, creating, within several hundred thousand years, optimum conditions for the formation of the first atoms. Then, slowly, matter began to clump together due to gravity until nebulae, stars, galaxies, and so on could form. Although there is much scientific evidence for the evolution of the universe, its precise origins (the study of which is known as cosmogony) remains a matter for debate within the disciplines of philosophy, religion, metaphysics, mythology, and star lore as much as in science, because such questions rely on necessarily untestable hypotheses. This chapter is concerned with notions of cosmology and cosmogony traditionally held by various cultures of the South Pacific.
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Notes
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Chadwick, S.R., Paviour-Smith, M. (2017). In the Beginning. In: The Great Canoes in the Sky. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22623-1_8
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