Microcosmos – macrocosmos
In earlier times we had no way to gain insights into the world of the very small – the microcosmos – or the world of the very large – the macrocosmos. People back then knew about only a small part of their surroundings, the part we can experience unaided with our senses.
Condensation trails in a cloud chamber. © DTMB
Microcosmos
The development and use of instruments like the microscope and the laser have allowed us to expand our realm of experience. For example we have been able to learn about the structure of human cells or the composition of matter.
Modern science has shown us that the microcosmos is governed by laws very different from those that govern our immediate observable surroundings. Physics has had to abandon traditional ideas about atoms, particles and light and develop new and very different models. These often contradict “common sense” and test the limits of human imagination.
Often, however, the comprehensible “naive” models turn out to be useful, even if they do not entirely match up to “true reality”. And of course to this day nobody really knows what “true reality” really is …
Macrocosmos
The macrocosmos concerns the world of the extremely large. Here too we make use of various technical aids and models based on physics, mathematics and technology (and sometimes on philosophy).
In astronomy and cosmology scientists use mathematical models and technical devices such as telesopes and space probes to comprehend the origins, structure and evolution of the universe.