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Annotated Bibliography

Can the Big Bang Theory Explain the Origins of Our Universe?

Jonathan Brindle

Professor Malcolm Campbell

University Writing 1104

March 8, 2018
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Annotated Bibliography

MacFarlane, Seth, and Steven Soter. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Performance by Neil

deGrasse Tyson, Netflix/ Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, National Geographic, 2014,

www.netflix.com/title/80004448

This documentary is a follow up on the original Carl Sagan led version from the 1980’s. The late

Carl Sagan’s good friend, Neil deGrasse Tyson leads his viewers on a journey throughout time

and space in order to better understand the origins and the conditions of the start of our universe

and eventually to enlighten them about the current status and knowledge of our surroundings.

Some topics that are covered within the series include: black holes, dark matter, dark energy,

wormholes, gravity wells, and many more. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a well renowned scientist and

is highly credible in his field. Due to this, the source is extremely credible and there are no

doubts about any of the facts within the documentary. This source is an academic documentary

that was published by National Geographic. National Geographic is a trusted resource and has

provided information on this topic in many other avenues of media. The purpose of this

documentary is to share knowledge with his viewers as to how our universe functions and

perhaps open the door for all encompassing theories of origin. This source is unlike other sources

in my bibliography. This is my only source that is in documentary format, however, this format

allows one to quickly learn basic material on the subject. This source certainly fits in well with

my research as it contains a breadth of knowledge that will be applicable to my end product. This

source will help build a strong base of research for my argument while also help me in my
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attempt to explain a complex topic. This source has not changed my position on the topic and

will appear in my final product due to its importance in my research process.

Foreman, Tom “Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham.” Performance by Ken Ham, and Bill Nye,

Youtube/Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis, 4 Feb. 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3Akl.

This is a video which encompasses the entire debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham. These two

represent opposing views in the debate over Creation Theory versus The Big Bang Theory. Ken

Ham represents the Creationist side that is taught in the Bible, whereas Bill Nye represents

alternative Big Bang Theory. This nearly two-and-a-half-hour debate discusses the Creationist

view of the universe and whether or not it is a viable explanation as to our existence in the

universe. Bill Nye is an accredited scientist who has won many awards for his work in children’s

science videos. Bill Ham is a Creationist who owns the Creation Museum which holds artifacts

that support his claims. Pros and Cons of each side are covered as each man attempts to disprove

the other. Topics discussed include the flaws of the Creationists dating of the world and the flaws

of carbon dating as well as differing opinions on the way in which mass extinctions occurred.

Both of these men are well respected in their fields and both position themselves with key points

within the debate. To go along with their respect in their field, the information they present must

be accurate and they are well equipped to argue for their viewpoint. This is an academic video in

the setting of a debate which serves the purpose of transitioning to the latter portion of my

research which is where I will analyze the opposing viewpoints and state my final opinion on the

topic. This source is certainly useful for the aforementioned reason. This debate provides me
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with arguments for opposing sides in hope of presenting a fair and honest critique for both sides.

This source will certainly appear in my final works cited page as it is critical to forming the

argumentative portion of my research.

Green, Michael. “Superstrings.” Scientific American, vol. 255, no. 3, Sept. 1996,

www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/mbg15/superstrings/superstrings.html.

This article that was published in The Scientific American covers a multitude of different ideas

concerning superstring theory. This article discussed all aspects of string theory that will be

important for my research. The most vital part of the article discussed what strings are and how

they function. These strings are a new way of observing matter which I could not understand

without the help of this article. Michael truly brought life to these strings with a complex and

extremely detailed description of them and the theory that revolves around them. This source

may be the most generic idea of a research topic source. Anything published in The Scientific

American is reputable and credible. The credibility of the article and its author are far from

questionable. This article is an academic and peer reviewed and was published by a professor at

Cambridge University and then picked up by The Scientific American with the purpose of

educating and offering a perspective on a hot topic within astrophysics. This source differed

from my other sources as it was far more descriptive and utilized a great deal of jargon. I believe

that this source will be extremely useful in my research and will help me hone in on the most

important aspects of my research. I believe that this source will allow me a depth of knowledge

in a key area of my research. I will certainly utilize and cite this source in my final research
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paper because it provides me with vital knowledge which will be key in explaining certain

aspects of The Big Bang.

McAlpine, Kate. “String Theory Calculations Describe ‘Birth of the Universe.’ String-Theory

Calculations Describe ‘Birth of the Universe,’ Physics World, 6 Dec. 2011,

physicsworld.com/a/string-theory-calculations-describe-birth-of-the-universe/.

This article by Kate McAlpine transitions along with what I wish to do with my research paper.

She discusses new found research that posits the reason behind why we can only see our three-

dimensional universe that also computes along with the birth of the universe. The article

discusses new research from Japan that may have the ability to explain the origins of the universe

by applying M-Theory to the equation. M-Theory adds credibility to The Big Bang Theory as M-

Theory seeks to explain the way in which the particles that were expanding during the Big Bang

still interact the same as they did thirteen billion years ago. These two theories go hand in hand

as the Big Bang seeks to explain how everything began while M-Theory explains how the

particles within function as strings. There is a multitude of resources posted in addition to this

source, that can accompany not only this portion of my research but also previous portions of it.

The source is seemingly credible and I believe that it will be a great source for my research even

if they are not peer reviewed articles. These articles are academic articles that are published with

the purpose of informing their audience on current news and issues within the physics field. This

source and those on this website are different from my other sources but they serve the purpose

of acting as a database for finding additional research for my topic. This source will be extremely

useful as it does not act merely as a source, but a way of finding many different sources. I will
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most likely not include this in my research paper as a source, however, I will utilize what I do

find on this website to find credible research that has been done and expand on my inventory of

sources.