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Introduction: the development of astronomy in Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2002

PAUL MURDIN
PAUL MURDIN
Affiliation:
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, British National Space Centre, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9SS, UK and Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The tradition of astronomy in Europe has been unbroken from the Neolithic and Bronze Age menhir monuments of north-western Europe to its large telescopes and space-probes. While astronomy still retains practical features, in most part it now concentrates on discovering new science. Recent advances include the discovery of previously unsuspected properties of neutrinos, confirmation of the theory of general relativity near black holes and the successful development of a coherent theory of the origin of the Universe in the Big Bang. These discoveries suggest that 19/20ths of the density of the Universe is of unknown form. There is more to do!

Type
Research Article
Information
European Review , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , May 2002 , pp. 159 - 169
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2002

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