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Article: Q: How do we know the universe is expanding, and what exactly does that mean?(Science 101: Background boosters for elementary teachers)
- Article from:
- Science and Children
- Article date:
- September 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 National Science Teachers Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A: Unless you've been hiding out in a cave for the last 20 years, you've heard that the universe is expanding and it started with a big bang. To put an expanding universe in perspective, it helps to imagine that you live in a two-dimensional universe. There's a great book for helping you imagine this; it's called Flatland and was written in 1884 by Edwin A. Abbott. It's an amazing book of mathematical and scientific fiction and it's short, so by all means pick up a copy. Given that we can't include a copy of the book in this issue of Science and Children, I'll settle for explaining the major features of living in a two-dimensional (2-D) universe.
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