Learning Goals

Studying this chapter will enable you to

	State the cosmological principle, and explain both its significance and its observational underpinnings.
	Explain how the age of the universe is determined, and discuss the uncertainties involved.
	Summarize the leading evolutionary models of the universe.
	Explain the relationship between the future of the universe and the overall geometry of space.
	Discuss the factors that determine whether the universe will expand forever.
	Explain what observations of the distant universe reveal about the composition of the universe.
	Describe the cosmic microwave background radiation, and explain its importance to our understanding of cosmology.