Hi, I'm Steven Martin, Professor of astronomy. And in this series of lectures, we're gonna explore how taking a cosmic view of life and death can be both empowering and inspiring as we navigate the challenges of living, finding meaning, an increasingly complex world. In this first lecture, we're going to explore the nature of change from a cost perspective, and look at our personal relationship to change. We'll also explore how each of our lives are intertwined with the evolution of the universe, and how seeing ourselves from a larger perspective can help us understand ourselves and our world. We live in times of rapid change is probably not much of an understatement to say that our generation is potentially living through one of the most turbulent and rapidly changing times in human history. rarely ever before Have there been so many changes taking place.

In so many spheres of modern life, and on such a large scale, political, social, economic and cultural changes are taking place in an unprecedented scale. Ecological, biological, and even geological changes are happening at a rate not seen on earth in the past 65 million years. With so many of the traditional institutions and supports crumbling away and shifting beneath their feet, many of us are feeling a sense of groundedness anxiety and disorientation. Where can we look for guidance on the road ahead? What can we draw upon for support during these turbulent times? I'd like to suggest a shifting viewpoint might be helpful here, taking a step back to look at our current situation, and but the different light from a much wider perspective.

As an astronomer, the biggest perspective I can think of is that of the universe itself. And that's what I'd like to explore here. What does change, crisis and transformation look like from a cost perspective? what lessons can we learn from This long view that might be helpful for us in our culture, and in our lives today. Considering this Catholics perspective from the viewpoint of modern astronomy and cosmology, perhaps there are lessons to be learned from this process called the universe that is seen and endured almost 14 billion years of change. What insights might be gathered from studying the patterns of ancient Cosmos around us, which is seeing countless stars form out of immense clouds of gas and dust, shine intensely for millions or billions of years think collapsed, exploded supernovae, returning to the dust from which they came.

What might we learn by studying the process by which this universe began is pure energy, and built on itself element by element to create the land and sky we see each day and night. Even our own precious Earth, which has been around for only a third of Cosmic History, has seen life emerging grow from singular cells and primordial waters, to take root on land, learn to walk, then fly, then traveled to space to study its own origins and Cosmic History. Considering the immense changes that have taken place over the vast reach of Universal Time and space, what might we learn from a cosmic evolutionary perspective that could be useful to us on a human, cultural and planetary scale, as well as in our individual daily lives? Perhaps one of the greatest discoveries of 20th century science is that we are part of an evolving universe that seems to have had a beginning, and an event called the Big Bang nearly 13.7 billion years ago, the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965 by the physicists Penzias and Wilson, provided observational confirmation of the big bang theory that suggests the universe began in a simpler, hot, dense state, and has been expanding cooling and complexify ever since.

Around the same time as Penzias and Wilson's work. Increasingly accurate geological studies were confirming Alfred Wagner's theory. plate tectonics showing that the Earth's surface and geology were significantly different in the past, the very ground beneath our feet was shown to have a history and have changed and evolved over time. Also, around the same time, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was celebrating its 100th birthday, I'm suggesting that biological life had changed significantly over time as well. In the past 50 years, enormous advances in all of these fields have succeeded in weaving all this diverse scientific data into a majestic grand synthesis that weaves together astronomy, geology, biology, and human culture into a coherent narrative of the origin, development and history of life, the universe and everything. variously called the Great story, the new story or Big History, and suggest that each of us in everything around us, is an integral part of an evolving changing universe.

This scientifically based account tells the story of the universe, from the Big Bang, to the formation of the first stars to the formation of galaxies, the sun and planets in life on earth and now ourselves. It's a story that connects all life on earth with a common origin, and shows that we are one part of a vast community of relationships that make up the whole universe. It's a story that tells us that the atoms in our bodies were forged in the hearts of stars long ago, and that those stars had humble beginnings from even simpler materials that emerged from the very fires of creation. For the first time, we can trace the entire life journey of matter, from its formation at the birth of the universe, to the formation of swirling clouds of gas and dust, to form stars, and then formed planets like the earth, then forming rocks, plants and animals and eventually the bones, flesh and blood of our bodies today.

Truly were each recycled stardust. The recognition that we are the growing edge of an unbroken cosmic evolutionary lineage stretching back to the beginning of the universe provides the first insight that will help us to turbulent times. More than Anything else, the universe is a process of continuous change. Many of us are used to thinking about the universe as an enormous collection of objects within a vast volume of space, with stars like fireflies within a large, darkened room. But this is not actually the modern view. The current scientific understanding is that all the matter and energy that exists and has ever existed, originally the Big Bang, and so everything that exists or has existed, are simply variations of the same basic stuff.

Cosmic Plato, being shaped and reshaped by the dynamics of the cosmos, into an endless variety of forms or configurations. It's very much like the intricate patterns on a Persian carpet, a continuously changing tapestry of light, energy and matter. That is finding ever new ways to express its beauty in each moment. Let's take a look at how the process of cosmic change actually works. And as an example, let's explore how a carbon atom became part of your finger. Well, the carbon atom your fingers was previously in the lettuce and Ansel tree for lunch.

But where was it before that it was in the soil from which lettuce grew. But how did that carbon into the soil it was present in the fiery Nebula from which the sun, the earth and the planets formed. And before that, the carbon was formed in the nuclear processes in the hearts of previous generation of stars from simple elements, such as hydrogen, helium, and these elements in turn, trace their origins back to the Big Bang itself. Same stuff different arrangements, stars, galaxies, trees and people. arrangements of matter and energy are only temporary on a cosmic scale. They were not present in our current forms at the beginning, and are destined to transition into other forms in the future.

The universe is therefore not made of matter, but a process echoing the Taoist sages and pre Socratic philosophers of previous eras the scientific conclusion about the nature of the universe It is more change than form more fluid than solid, more river than shoreline. cosmologist Brian swim sums it up in this way, take hydrogen gas, leave it alone for 14 billion years. And it turns into rosebuds giraffes and the music of Mozart. Whatever this mysterious process is that we call The Universe, it has been a continuous and unbroken sequence of changes, that his journey from humble beginnings to the world that surrounds us today. This is actually very good news. It means that whatever our situation good or bad, it will eventually evolve, grow and change, since it is the fundamental nature of things to do.

So. It also means that if we want to grow and evolve, we have to follow the lead of the universe and allow ourselves and our lives to be fluid and changeable as well. Many of us tend to resist in fear change, and there are good evolutionary and biological reasons for this. But if we can see that our basic nature comes out of a university that's changing, growing and evolving all around us all the time than letting go to the process of change becomes less challenging, and more of an opportunity to participate as part of the cosmic evolutionary adventure. The second piece of good news for our lives is that process is primary. If this universe is not made of stuff, but is in fact made of change itself, it suggests that the journey we take your life is more important than the destination.

How we live our lives, how we relate to others. And what we cultivate in ourselves and in our communities, is therefore more important than the house we live in the car we drive, or the position in society we hold. All these objects and structures will likely change many times over the course of our lives. But what we develop ourselves and contribute to the world, to the process of living is what will see us through changes in the future, and also what will be ultimately most satisfying. This means the answer to our life's problems is not found entirely in materialism. Because our culture's tendency to see the world as a collection of unchanging solid objects.

We tend to look for solutions and sources of happiness in that realm. More money, a bigger house, a different car, or something else shiny and new to bring into our lives. But all of these are temporary, destined to change and fade away through this cosmic process of change. It doesn't mean that we can't have these things and enjoy them. But since they're not fundamental to the nature of the universe, then they can't be lasting source of happiness or fulfillment in our lives.