Wonders of the Universe

TIMELINE OF THE UNIVERSE: THE BIG BANG TO THE PRESENT

The history of the Universe can be split into several phases, according to the physical conditions that existed at the time. Things happened quickly in the first fractions of a second, when the Universe was filled with an intensely hot soup of energy and exotic particles. From this emerged the first protons and neutrons which were later to form the nuclei of the first atoms – mostly hydrogen and helium. After the emission of the cosmic microwave background, around 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the pace of events became more sedate. According to current understanding, the Universe will continue to expand forever, eventually fading into darkness in the unimaginably distant future.

Nathalie Lees © HarperCollins

The construction of all the chemical elements in the Universe can be illustrated with the most basic demonstration – so simple, it’s child’s play. To understand how the structure has emerged, all you need is a pot of bubble mixture. Blow one bubble and you have returned to the beginning of time, when all that existed in the Universe was the proton.

There’s a mystery at the heart of science for which, as yet, we have no explanation, and that is that this universe is simple. Underlying all of the astonishing complexity appears to be a magnificent simplicity, and nowhere is that simplicity more obvious than in the construction of the elements.