All of us share a common yearning to understand our place in the universe. For countless millennia we looked at the stars, the land and ourselves, and wove explanations that involved unseen forces and unseen beings. In recent times, science has allowed us to look back to almost the beginning of time13.7 billion years ago, providing us with an amazing story of discovery. A story that reveals a cosmos of violent recycling and beauty, of unimaginable magnitude, a universe driven by mysterious dark energy that is expanding at an accelerating rate to its ultimate demise, far, far into the future. The formation of the earth, the creation of life and the accent of the curious conscious human is explored by examining some of the great discovers and discoveries in science. It was inspired by requests made by many visitors to the Gravity Discovery Centre's Cosmology Gallery in Western Australia, that houses a 60m long Timeline of the Universe. They frequently asked if the story and the accompanying poems were available in a book. This inspired the authors to adapt the timeline story, in image, text and verse, in this book.
About the Author: David Blair's passion for science was ignited by the first Sputniks. He built radios, rockets and robots, and spent time with NASA during the Apollo missions. After completing a PhD thesis called he joined the early efforts to detect Einstein's predicted spectrum of gravitational waves. The discipline involves more than 1000 physicists working in billion dollar projects, building detectors of unimaginable perfection. David is director of the Australian International Gravitational Research Centre. His passion for communicating science was fulfilled with the concept of the Gravity Discovery Centre. With the late John Delaeter, David conceived an education centre combining art, science and traditional knowledge. He aimed to ensure that regardless of background, people should be able to experience the awesomeness of the universe. The Gravity Discovery Centre supports all levels of education. David co-authored a popular book called Ripples on a Cosmic Sea, about the quest to discover Einstein's waves. He has written about 500 research papers and edited several books. Geoff Cody's first picture with his first camera was a long exposure shot of the circular trails left by the stars above the South Pole. His childhood was spent exploring and collecting from the rivers, ocean and bush around his Perth home. His fascination with science continued at school where an enthusiastic science "Doc" McKenna had built a radio receiver enabling students to tune in to radio signals from the first Earth satellites. The "Doc" inspired Geoff to study physics, chemistry, geology and philosophy at university and to start a deeply rewarding forty year science teaching career. He has developed many innovative science programs, inspiring students to be inquisitive, innovative and to develop a deep love of the sciences. Geoff's was inspired to create a 60 metre long installation called Timeline of the Universe for the Cosmology Gallery at the Gravity Discovery Centre. The timeline included poems which encapsulate events in the history of time, catching key moments in the process of creation and putting the ideas into everyday language. Following many requests from people inspired by their poetry, Geoff and David were persuaded to convert their work into a book.