If science is the 20th century's greatest collective work of art, the big bang theory of cosmic evolution is surely its magnum opus. A self-consistent synthesis of observational astronomy, chemistry, particle physics, biology and geology, this theory gives a remarkably unified description of the Universe from its first squillionth of a second up to the present and beyond. What is more, it is framed in ideas that scientists can test on Earth. A hundred years ago, who would have believed that such an ambitious theory would be possible?
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