Simon White, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, delivered this lecture in November 2013. White explores the processes through which the early universe, characterized by small density fluctuations, gave rise to the galaxies we observe today. He explains how these initial seeds grew under the influence of gravity, leading to the collapse of matter and the formation of galactic structures over billions of years. The lecture also highlights how cosmological simulations and observational data—from both space and ground-based telescopes—connect theoretical models with real galaxies, providing insight into the roles of dark matter, interstellar gas, and stellar feedback in galactic evolution.
This lecture is part of the astrophysics series ‘The Science of the Cosmos, the Science in the Cosmos’, tackles the fundamental questions in contemporary astrophysics.The discovery o
Simon White, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, delivered this lecture in November 2013. White explores the processes through which the early universe, characterized by small density fluctuations, gave rise to the galaxies we observe today. He explains how these initial seeds grew under the influence of gravity, leading to the collapse of matter and the formation of galactic structures over billions of years. The lecture also highlights how cosmological simulations and observational data—from both space and ground-based telescopes—connect theoretical models with real galaxies, providing insight into the roles of dark matter, interstellar gas, and stellar feedback in galactic evolution.
This lecture is part of the astrophysics series ‘The Science of the Cosmos, the Science in the Cosmos’, tackles the fundamental questions in contemporary astrophysics.The discovery of the earliest galaxies, the search for signs of life in the universe, the long-term stability of planetary systems and the study of starquakes are some of the issues examined in the third edition.
