BRIAN SCHMIDT: Hi, I'm Brian.
PAUL FRANCIS: And I'm Paul.
This course covers cosmology.
What's cosmology?
Cosmology is a study of the universe,
of everything, the whole shebang.
BRIAN SCHMIDT: We want to ask questions
about where did the universe come from?
How big is the universe?
And what made the Big Bang go bang?
PAUL FRANCIS: Will the universe end with
a whimper or an explosion, or perhaps
it would last forever?
BRIAN SCHMIDT: What is
the shape of the universe?
Does it extend on to infinity?
What is the very nature of
time and space themselves?
PAUL FRANCIS: All big questions.
But aren't we overreaching ourselves?
You have to bear in
mind that we're barely
evolved monkeys living on
an undistinguished planet
on the outskirts of a
very average galaxy.
How could we possibly
have the nerve to think
that we can understand
the whole universe?
BRIAN SCHMIDT: Well,
Paul, quite frankly,
through working generation
after generation,
we scientists have been
able to piece together
a remarkable story of
the universe, a universe
that starts at its very beginning
and extends to potentially its end.
It is remarkable the progress.
It's actually been
breathtaking the progress
we've been able to make over
the last 20 years or so.
PAUL FRANCIS: And you
indeed had a large part
to play in this through
the work that won you
the Nobel Prize in looking at
the discovery of dark energy.
BRIAN SCHMIDT: Awwwhhh.
Thanks Paul.
This course is one of four that make
up the Australian National University's
first year astrophysics course.
PAUL FRANCIS: Now to get
the most out of this course,
you're going to need a fairly strong
level of high school math and physics.
BRIAN SCHMIDT: Like other
parts of this course,
we don't guarantee to
tell you all the answers.
But what we do guarantee
is to tell you what
we know and we don't
know about the universe.
PAUL FRANCIS: And we can
promise to blow your brains.
