Earth Science
ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE AND SOLAR SYSTEM
Week 2 / August 25-27, 2021 / Lecture Notes
Introduction
Earth – most important planet in the solar system
because all forms of living things can only be found
here
Earth Science – branch of Physical Science that
deals with the study of solid Earth and water in, on,
and around it
4 Major Disciplines of Earth Science
Geology
Geology – study of the Earth, lithosphere,
substances and processes that make up Earth, how
materials and processes changed Earth, Earth
structures
2 MAJOR FIELDS OF GEOLOGY
 Physical Geology – solid parts of Earth
[rock, soil, mineral] and Earth processes
 Historical Geology – how Earth evolved by
investigating fossils
2 IMPORTANT SUBFIELDS OF GEOLOGY
 Volcanology – study of volcanoes
 Seismology – study of earthquakes
3 BRANCHES OF GEOLOGY
1. Geomorphology – study landforms [rising
and subsiding or continents]
2. Geophysics – study physical phenomena
[magnetic field, flow of heat, gravity, tides]
3. Geochemistry – study chemical composition
of Earth, laws of element distribution
Stratigraphers – maps out different layers of
strata of kinds of rocks
Oceanography
Oceanography – study of the ocean and its
composition, movement, and organisms
Oceanographers – study currents, storm, waves,
protect marine ecosystem
2 BRANCHES OF OCEANOGRAPHY
1. Physical Oceanography – water density and
temperature effects [tides, waves, currents]
2. Chemical Oceanography – composition of
seawater
3. Marine Biology – examine all life forms in
ocean and their environment
Meteorology
Meteorology – study of weather, climate, and
atmosphere
Weather – short term atmospheric condition
Climate – long term condition of a region
 Broadcast Meteorologist – interpret and
report weather data on TV and radio to
inform and protect
 Forensic Meteorologist – how weather
conditions affect accidents and damage
 Climatologist – large-scale weather patterns
over long period of time
2 BRANCHES OF METEOROLOGY
1. Climatology – study of past and present
climate with longer variation
2. Meteorology – daily weather and examines
all forms of atmospheric disturbances
Astronomy
Astronomy – study of stars, planets, and space
Astrology – not a science, more on beliefs
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Earth Science
ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE AND SOLAR SYSTEM
Week 2 / August 25-27, 2021 / Lecture Notes
2 FIELDS OF ASTRONOMY
 Observational Astronomy – direct study of
heavenly bodies
 Theoretical Astronomy – analyze how
systems may have evolved, model and
interpret data from observations
6 BRANCHES OF ASTRONOMY
1. Planetary Astronomy – growth, evolution,
and death of planets
2. Solar Astronomy – analyzes the sun
3. Stellar Astronomy – stars, black holes,
nebulae, white dwarfs, supernova
4. Galactic Astronomy – studies the galaxy
[Milky Way]
5. Extragalactic Astronomy – outside of our
galaxy, determine how stars form, change,
and die
6. Cosmology – focus on the entire universe,
from birth to present evolution to eventual
death
Scientists and Philosophers of Earth Science
1. Aristarchus of Samos (Heliocentric Model)
– Greek astronomer, sun at the center of
universe, Earth is revolving circular around
the sun, stars in sun in fixed position,
estimated sizes and distance of sun and
moon
2. Claudius Ptolemy (Geocentric Model) –
Alexandrian astronomer, mathematician,
and geographer, Earth is center of the
universe
Deferent – circular path where planets move
Epicycle – circles where planets move
3. Nicolaus Copernicus (Heliocentric Model) –
Polish churchman, mathematician, and
astronomer, sun at the center of solar
system, Earth is spinning on its axis once
daily and revolves a year around the sun
4. Tycho Brahe (Brahe’s Model) – Danish
nobleman, astronomer, and writer, planets
revolve around the sun, sun revolves around
Earth, built a sextant to measure the location
of heavenly bodies
5. Galileo Galilei (Galileo’s Model) – Italian
astronomer, physicist, and engineer, “father
of observational astronomy”, “father of
modern physics”, “father of the scientific
method”, “father of modern science”, first
astronomical telescope, sun at the center and
all planets (includes Earth) revolve around it
6. Johann Kepler (Kepler’s Model) – German
astronomer, mathematician, and
astrologer, 3 laws of planetary motion
(supported the Copernican theory), planets
move elliptical around the sun, closer
planets to sun has faster orbit
7. Sir Isaac Newton (Newton’s Model) –
English mathematician, physicist,
astronomer, theologian, and author, laws
of universal gravitation and motion
(explained how objects move in Earth and
through the heavens
Theories on the Origin of the Universe
1. Genesis – the story of God’s creation
2. Rigveda – from India, universe is a cosmic
egg (Brahmanda) that contains the universe,
there are many Brahmandas, oscillating
3. Primordial Universe (Anaxagoras of
Clazomenae) – Greek philosopher, universe
was a mixture of all ingredients in fragments
that are set in motion by the “nous” and
produced a swirling motion that separated
the ingredients
4. Atomic Universe (Leucippus of Miletus) –
Greek philosopher, formulated the atomic
theory of indivisibles
Atomic Universe (Democritus of Adbera) –
Greek philosopher, developed the atomic
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Earth Science
ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE AND SOLAR SYSTEM
Week 2 / August 25-27, 2021 / Lecture Notes
theory of indivisibles by Leucippus,
universe was composed of very small
indivisible (can’t be separated) and
indestructible atoms
5. Geocentric Universe (Aristotle and Claudius
Ptolemy) – Earth is motionless and
everything is moving around it
6. Heliocentric Universe (Nicolaus
Copernicus) – celestial motions are uniform
and circular, planets revolve around the sun,
Earth spins in tilted axis (reason of seasons)
7. Infinite Universe (Giordano Bruno) –
Italian Dominican friar, philosopher,
mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist,
and Hermetic occultist, stars were
surrounded by their own planets, planets
may foster life, universe is infinite and no
center
8. Newton’s Universe (Sir Isaac Newton) –
English mathematician, physicist,
astronomer, theologian, and author,
steady-state and infinite universe, matter is
distributed equally, universe is
gravitationally balanced but essentially
unstable
9. Vortex Universe (Rene Descartes) – French
philosopher, mathematician, and scientist,
Cartesian vortex model, system of huge
swirling whirlpools of fine matter
(gravitational effects)
10. Einstein’s Universe (Albert Einstein) –
German theoretical physicist, same as
Newton, never expanding nor contracting
11. Big Bang Theory 1927 (Georges Edouard
Lemaitre) – Belgian Roman Catholic priest,
mathematician, astronomer, and professor,
“father of the big bang”, all matter and
energy are crammed in a tiny compact
(singularity) that expanded/exploded and
sent space, time, matter, and energy in all
directions
Big Bang Theory 1927, Galactic Redshift
1929 (Edwin Powell Hubble) – American
astronomer, continuous expanding of
universe, spectral lines shifted towards the
red (end of spectrum), light wavelengths
become longer means that galaxies are
receding from us
Big Bang Theory 1927, CMB 1965 (Arno
Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson)
– American astronomer and physicist,
cosmic microwave background radiation
(CMB), Nobel Prize 1978 in physics
Time Begins
 Universe begins 13.7B years ago as the size
of an atom
 Began as a violent explosion/expansion –
matter and space were created from a single
point of pure energy (singularity)
THINGS MADE IN A FRACTION OF SECOND
1. Weak Nuclear Force – converted protons to
neutrons, created radiation
2. Gravity – made the rotation in axis possible,
keeps things in universe intact, creates
energy
3. Electromagnetic Force – formed atoms and
molecules, generated photons (light)
4. Strong Nuclear Force – bonded protons to
nucleus, can break bonds
 3 minutes after big bang, universe grown to
larger than a grapefruit, cooling down,
protons and neutrons started to fuse together
to create the nucleus/core of Hydrogen and
Helium
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Earth Science
ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE AND SOLAR SYSTEM
Week 2 / August 25-27, 2021 / Lecture Notes
 300,000 years after big bang, cool enough to 4. Multiverse (Hugh Everett II) – American
complete the Hydrogen and Helium atom physicist, first proposed the many worlds
(added electron), atoms were formed, interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics,
photons escaped and light existed relative state formulation
 300M years after big bang, first stars and Multiverse (Bryce DeWitt) – American
galaxies formed theoretical physicist, initially developed and
 4.6B years ago, solar system forms popularized “many worlds” in 1960s and
1970s
Theories on the Birth of the Universe
1. Oscillating Universe (Albert Einstein) –
German theoretical physicist, perpetual
cycle of birth (big bang) and death (big
crunch), curvature results to expansion, pull
of gravity results to contraction
2. Steady State Theory (Hermann Bondi) –
Anglo-Austrian mathematician and
cosmologist
Steady State Theory (Thomas Gold) –
Austrian astrophysicist and professor
Steady State Theory (Sir Fred Hoyle) –
English astronomer and cosmologist,
universe doesn’t change, homogenous,
replaces something that dies, universe has no
beginning nor end, contradicts big bang
 SST - universe expands, number of
galaxies changes, constant density
(compact), spaces filled with new
heavenly bodies
 Big bang – universe expands, number of
galaxies remains the same, less dense,
heavenly bodies move far from each
other
3. Inflation Theory (Alan Guth) – from MIT
Inflation Theory (Andrei Linde) – of
Stanford
Inflation Theory (Paul Steinhardt) – of
Princeton
Inflation Theory (Neil Turok) – South
African physicist, extension of big bang,
gradual expansion after big bang, evidence
is the existence of gravitational waves

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