Intro2Cosmology: The CMB

We journey back 13.8 billion years to uncover the oldest light in existence — the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB).

Often called the universe’s “baby picture,” the CMB is more than a snapshot — it's a fossil of the Big Bang itself, etched into the sky in microwaves. We’ll break down what the CMB is, how it formed, how it’s detected, and why it changed the course of cosmology forever. From blackbody radiation and photon decoupling to pigeons, Planck, and primordial ripples, this episode unpacks how a faint hiss across the sky became the smoking gun for the Big Bang.

This is the story of the universe’s first light — and what it still reveals to us today.

References: 

▪️Introduction to Cosmology - Barbara Rayden

▪️Lecture notes in Cosmology - Oliver Piattella

Should read: 

▪️The First Three Minutes – Steven Weinberg

▪️Cosmos – Carl Sagan

▪️The Road to Reality – Roger Penrose

Special thanks to Matteo Magi

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