Questions concerning the nature of the Universe as a whole were until recently, the province of philosophy and superstition only. There was no way to examine the fabric of the heavens to see what it was made of - until the invention of spectroscopy and the construction of powerful telescopes in the past century. The data collected have been analysed with sophisticated mathematical techniques, and models have been developed which help us to understand how this Universe may have come to be how it is.
Cosmology draws on the physical sciences - especially mathematics , physics , and astronomy .
Modern cosmology is the scientific study of the origin, development, and large-scale structure of the Universe . Before the 20th century, there was little hope or expectation of being able to answer such questions scientifically. Perhaps the most important milestones in cosmology were Galileo and Newton's developments of astronomical telescopes, Einstein's relativity theories, Hubble's discovery of the expansion of the Universe , and the Hubble Space Telescope. These conditions are known as the cosmological principle . To help you visualise this, imagine many dots painted on a balloon, which is then blown up.