Scientific Colloquium
April 2, 2004
Cosmology, the study of the
structure of the universe as a whole, used
to be derided as a branch of
metaphysics: full of speculation and
wonderful ideas, but few
quantitative facts. However, massive surveys
of the nearby and distant universe
have allowed astronomers to
develop a coherent,
self-consistent, and very well-tested model for
the universe in which we
live. I will discuss various parts of this
story, with particular emphasis on
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which
has mapped the distribution of
almost half a million galaxies, thereby
cementing our knowledge of the
local universe.