The Story of Astrophysics in Five Revolutions

An astrophysicist’s reflection on how shifts in perspective have transformed our understanding of the cosmos.

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When Neil Armstrong first set foot in the lunar dust, his action forever changed our view of what was possible. Once something new alters our perspective, a transformation starts. In The Story of Astrophysics in Five Revolutions, Ersilia Vaudo explores five such turning points in the history of cosmology: Newton’s realization that gravity governs the celestial world; Einstein’s two theories of relativity, linking space with time and gravity with acceleration; Hubble’s revelation of an expanding universe; and the emergence of antiparticles and their implications for our cosmic evolution.

But we still have much to learn. We are navigating through shifting reference points, abandoned convictions, observations that surprise us, technologies that evolve—always waiting impatiently for new measurements, new questions. Vaudo illuminates the key insights that have led us to where we are today, but above all she urges us to look beyond, in an ongoing quest to understand the cosmos and our place in it.