The study of the universe, its components, how it was formed and future expectations is what cosmology stands for. Both scientists and religion have attempted to give explanations of how the universe came to be. Religion accounts for the existence of a supernatural being that is believed to have created the universe. On the other hand, scientists speculate that the universe came into existence as a result of natural forces, whose reactions led to the formation of the universe. Scientists came up with scientific shreds of evidence in support of speculation on the existence of the universe. It came from constant observations and recordings over the years to determine the reality of the said speculations 1 . A good example of this is the Neolithic cosmology which is believed to be as old as man. The argument under this was those cosmological things, weather, earthquakes, and sharp changes in the surrounding magically interacted to form the universe. It can popularly be referred to as the magical cosmology and happened 100000 years ago. It is important to note that during ancient times, the many cultures around the world, which comprised of people from different regions had their own story from which they believed that the universe came into being. These were presented in the form of myths, but the people perceived and believed in cosmology matters. For instance, Egyptian cosmology is well known for such myths responding to how the universe came to be.
During medieval times cosmology was organized so that the scientists wanted to conjoin the experiences and logics. It was referred to as rationalism. The main aim of this was to bring about a sequence of how things unfolded in the universe's existence. It would help understand cosmology easily through the various contributions and a step-by-step connection between the happenings. During this time, scientists divided cosmology into two parts. First was the existence of the universe, and second, was the components of the universe. During 250 BC, scientists Eratosthenes and Aristarchus, estimated the size of the earth 2 . They performed some calculations and geometry to determine the positions of the earth, the sun, and the moon around the earth. They put across the world as scientifically being made up of 9 planets. The medieval period was characterized by scientific calculations, logical presentation, and geometry.
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During the scientific revolution, some paradigm shifts were witnessed. These were evidenced in the scientific theories which speculated movements. The first was a theory that stated that the earth was the center of the universe and was referred to as the Ptolemaic system. The other was the Copernican system that labeled the sun as the center of the universe 3 . The shifts had a major impact on the development of cosmology, bringing in new ideas and creating room for study of change in the universe's study.
Galileo responded to cosmology by stating that the earth rotates on its axis. It contradicted what the church had as the earth being motionless 4 . Galileo's claims were not received as scientific claims that needed investigation, but instead, it was treated as personal and institutional blasphemy that needed to be suppressed. The Roman Catholic was in charge during the time, and he was charged by execution. However much this incident appears like warfare between theology and scientific progress to some critiques, it is important to note the decision was not necessarily warfare before making such an accusation. The Roman Catholic Church is the head of the time, was not against scientific progress. It was against the misleading of individuals on matters against what the church previously taught. The execution was conducted as a warning against any acts of blasphemy and contradiction of the church's teaching by scientists in the days, not warfare between theology and scientific progress.
Bibliography
Bender, H. E. (2017). The star-beings AND Stones: Petroforms and the reflection of Native american COSMOLOGY, myth and Stellar traditions. Journal of Lithic Studies, 4 (3), 79-118. doi:10.2218/jls.v0i0.1918
Herndon, J. M. (2021). Nature of the universe: Astrophysical paradigm shifts. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8 (1), 631-645. doi:10.14738/assrj.81.9704
Zwierlein, C. (2020). Maurice A. FINOCCHIARO, on trial for Reason. science, religion, and culture in the Galileo Affair. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2019. Historische Zeitschrift, 311 (3), 785-786. doi:10.1515/hzhz-2020-1477
