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Join enthusiastic stargazer and researcher Terry Maxwell to explore the development of astronomy from its earliest attempts to understand the lights in the night sky to the emergence of modern cosmology.

We begin this fascinating journey in the ancient world, where patterns in the sky were observed and used to structure time, navigation and belief, before turning to attempts by the ancient Greeks to give these observations mathematical and philosophical form. Crucial in this development is the Islamic world, which took Greek ideas and refined and extended them until they were transmitted into medieval Europe, via Cyprus, Italy and most of all Spain.

From this foundation, we examine the early modern reordering of the cosmos. The work of Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler and the controversial figure of Galileo Galilei, who challenged inherited models, while Isaac Newton showed that celestial motion could be explained through universal physical laws.

We will bring this up to date with the development in the nineteenth-century of astrophysics, and see how the new technologies of the industial age made it possible to study the physical nature of stars and galaxies in more detail than ever before, and on to our own time as astrophysics led to the emergence of modern cosmology. Twentieth-century discoveries, including the expanding universe and competing models such as the Big Bang and Steady State theories, reveal how scientific understanding develops through evidence, debate and revision.

No previous knowledge is need. The course is designed to be accessible, engaging and intellectually rigorous, offering a clear account of how humanity came to understand the universe in scientific terms.

Term dates

•  Lent/Spring Term: week beginning 12 January 2027 until week ending 11 April 2027

For course content enquiries: Contact the Programme Manager, Michael Paraskos, at m.paraskos@imperial.ac.uk

For enrolment and booking enquiries: Contact Christian Jacobi at c.jacobi@imperial.ac.uk

Class recordings

These classes are not recorded.

Imperial certificates

This course has no exams or assessments, so you can focus on enjoying your learning. If you attend regularly, you may also receive an Imperial attendance certificate. (T&Cs apply).