Cosmology /

Cosmology is the study of the structure of the universe from the standpoint of physics. The term is often used synonymously with cosmogony in casual conversations. A more in-depth look at the word shows that cosmology (from Greek κοσμολογία - κόσμος, kosmos, "universe"; and -λογία, -logia, "study"), in strict usage, refers to the study of the Universe in its totality as it is now (or at least as it can be observed now), and by extension, humanity's place in it. Though the word cosmology is recent (first used in 1730 in Christian Wolff's Cosmologia Generalis), the study of the universe has a long history involving science, philosophy, esotericism, and religion. (See Cosmogony for the study of origins of the Universe and Cosmography for the features of the Universe.) Cosmology is the study of the structure and changes in the present universe, while the scientific field of cosmogony is concerned with the origin of the universe. Observations about our present universe may not only allow predictions to be made about the future, but they also provide clues to events that happened long ago when...the cosmos began. So—the work of cosmologists and cosmogonists overlaps.