Column Cosmology

A century ago, Alexander Friedmann envisioned the universe’s expansion

He saw that Einstein’s equations predicted multiple cosmic scenarios, including a Big Bang

By Tom Siegfried

Contributing Correspondent

- More than 2 years ago

black and white photo of Alexander Friedmann

In 1922, Alexander Friedmann (shown) outlined multiple possible histories of the universe. Cosmic expansion was among those possibilities.

Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

For millennia, the universe did a pretty good job of keeping its secrets from science.