1955 Cosmic Times Articles
This poster is the third edition of Cosmic Times, with the publication date chosen to coincide with Einstein's death. By the mid-1950s a number of astronomers had worked on fundamental questions about the universe, and there was no clear answer which was correct. In addition, the size of the universe got bigger, and we started to explore the universe with more than just optical light.
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Content Overview
The year of this issue of the Cosmic Times was chosen to coincide with Einstein's passing. Much has happened since 1929, with the development of two competing theories about the nature of the universe, the discovery of supernovae, and a re-calibration of the Cepheids as standard candles. In addition, astronomers get their first "glimpse" of objects emitting in a region of the em spectrum other than optical light.
Downloads
- 1955 Poster (printable at 8.5" x 11" or at its full size of 24" x 33"): pdf
- 1955 Newsletters:
- 1955 Questions for Understanding: doc, pdf
- 1955 Glossary: doc, pdf
- Full Cosmic Times Glossary: doc, pdf
- Educator's guide for all Cosmic Times editions: doc, pdf
Articles
- Age of Universe: 6 Billion Years; Size of Universe: 4 Billion Light Years
Learn more about the age and size → - 'Yardsticks' in Neighbor Galaxy Double Universe's Size
- Summary: Observations by Walter Baade, under dark skies offered by wartime blackouts in Los Angeles, lead to a new calibration of the Cepheids, resulting in new distances to far away galaxies.
- Thread: Size of the Universe
- Additional background and information →
- Origin of Everything: Hot Big Bang or Ageless Universe?
- Summary: The debate rages between two theories for the universe: Steady State vs Evolutionary.
- Thread: Expanding Universe
- Additional background and information →
- Sidebar: Hoyle Scoffs at "Big Bang" Universe Theory
- Summary: Ironically, the name "Big Bang" came from its biggest detractor!
- Thread: Expanding Universe
- Additional background and information →
- Death of a Genius: Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955
- Summary: The world marks the passing of Albert Einstein.
- Additional background and information →
- It's a Star! It's a Nova! It's Super-nova!
- Summary: Astronomers discover there are novae and supernovae, and that there are two types of supernovae.
- Thread: Supernova
- Additional background and information →
- Radio 'Ear' on the Universe Being Built
- Summary: Radio astronomy was in its infancy and opening up a whole new set of objects not visible to optical telescopes. Astronomers were building the next big radio telescope. Additional background and information →
Lesson Plans
Download a .zip file containing all 1955 lessons with their associated handouts: doc, pdf
- The Evidence is Clear
- Cosmic Jeopardy
- Big Bang Science Fiction
- Discovering 'Yardsticks' are 'Metersticks'
- Hubble's Law Mis-calibration Extension
- Overview: This lesson is an extension of the Cosmic Times 1929 lesson "Determining the Universe" to reproduce a plot of Hubble's Law.
- Grades: high school
- Topics: Physics, Astronomy
- Download
Style Notes
The language in the articles in the 1955 Cosmic Times mimics the style of writing that would have appeared in a real 1955 newspaper. While this is getting closer to more familiar language and sentence structure, it may still be a bit difficult for your students to read. As with other editions, we have provided three versions of the text in newletter form: an Early Edition aimed at 7-8 graders, a Home Edition aimed at 9-10 grades (with text from the online edition), and a Late Edition aimed at 11-12 grades (with the text from the poster). These, along with a glossary and questions for understanding are available above.
The poster also shows a layout that mimics the papers of the time, however, we have taken some creative license to make it more readable in a classroom setting. Real newspapers of the time would have had 5-7 narrow columns of small type.