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<span>Ages</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Ages-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Ages subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Ages-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Primordial_Era" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Primordial_Era"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Primordial Era</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Primordial_Era-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Stelliferous_Era" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Stelliferous_Era"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Stelliferous Era</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Stelliferous_Era-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Degenerate_Era" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Degenerate_Era"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Degenerate Era</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Degenerate_Era-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Black_Hole_Era" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Black_Hole_Era"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4</span> <span>Black Hole Era</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Black_Hole_Era-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Dark_Era" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Dark_Era"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.5</span> <span>Dark Era</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Dark_Era-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Future_revision" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Future_revision"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Future revision</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Future_revision-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div 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<div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"><span class="mw-redirectedfrom">(Redirected from <a href="/w/index.php?title=Cosmological_decade&redirect=no" class="mw-redirect" title="Cosmological decade">Cosmological decade</a>)</span></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Book by Fred Adams</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Five+Ages+of+the+Universe%3A+Inside+the+Physics+of+Eternity&rft.author=%5B%5BFred+Adams%5D%5D+and+Gregory+Laughlin&rft.date=1999&rft.pub=Free+Press+Publishers&rft.place=United+States&rft.pages=251+pp.&rft_id=info:oclcnum/44402328"></span></caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe.jpg/220px-The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="328" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/65/The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="258" data-file-height="385" /></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Cover</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Fred_Adams" title="Fred Adams">Fred Adams</a> and Gregory Laughlin</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">English</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Popular_science" title="Popular science">Popular science</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publisher</th><td class="infobox-data">Free Press Publishers</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1999</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publication place</th><td class="infobox-data">United States</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Media type</th><td class="infobox-data">Print</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Pages</th><td class="infobox-data">251 pp.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-684-86576-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-684-86576-8">978-0-684-86576-8</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)"><abbr title="Online Computer Library Center number">OCLC</abbr></a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44402328">44402328</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>The Five Ages of the Universe</b></i> is a <a href="/wiki/Popular_science" title="Popular science">popular science</a> book written by astrophysicists <a href="/wiki/Fred_Adams" title="Fred Adams">Fred Adams</a> and <a href="/wiki/Gregory_P._Laughlin" title="Gregory P. Laughlin">Gregory P. Laughlin</a><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> about the <a href="/wiki/Future_of_an_expanding_universe" title="Future of an expanding universe">future of an expanding universe</a> first published in 1999.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Book_contents">Book contents</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Book contents"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The book <i>The Five Ages of the Universe</i> discusses the history, present state, and probable future of the universe, according to cosmologists' current understanding. The book divides the timeline of the universe into five eras: the <a href="/wiki/Inflationary_epoch" title="Inflationary epoch">Primordial</a> Era, the <a href="/w/index.php?title=Stelliferous&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Stelliferous (page does not exist)">Stelliferous</a> Era, the <a href="/wiki/Degenerate_matter" title="Degenerate matter">Degenerate</a> Era, the <a href="/wiki/Black_Hole" class="mw-redirect" title="Black Hole">Black Hole</a> Era and the Dark Era. </p><p>In addition to explaining current cosmological theory, the authors speculate on what kinds of life might exist in future eras of the universe. The speculation is based on a scaling hypothesis, credited to <a href="/wiki/Freeman_Dyson" title="Freeman Dyson">Freeman Dyson</a>, the idea being, that all other things being equal the rate of metabolism—and therefore rate of consciousness—of an organism should be in direct proportion to the temperature at which that organism thrives. The authors envision life forms completely different from the biochemical ones of Earth, for example, based on networked black holes. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Ages">Ages</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Ages"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The time scales treated in the book are sufficiently vast, that, the authors find it convenient to use scientific notation. They refer to the "n<sup>th</sup> cosmological decade," meaning 10<sup>n</sup> years after the Big Bang. In what follows, n refers to the cosmological decade. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Primordial_Era">Primordial Era</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Primordial Era"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Primordial Era is defined as "−50 < n < 5". In this era, the <a href="/wiki/Big_Bang" title="Big Bang">Big Bang</a>, the subsequent <a href="/wiki/Cosmic_Inflation" class="mw-redirect" title="Cosmic Inflation">inflation</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Big_Bang_nucleosynthesis" title="Big Bang nucleosynthesis">Big Bang nucleosynthesis</a> are thought to have taken place. Toward the end of this age, the recombination of electrons with nuclei made the universe transparent for the first time. The authors discuss the horizon and flatness problems. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Stelliferous_Era">Stelliferous Era</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Stelliferous Era"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Stelliferous Era, is defined as, "6 < n < 14". This is the current era, in which matter is arranged in the form of stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters, and most energy is produced in stars. Stars will be the most dominant objects of the universe in this era. Massive stars use up their fuel very rapidly, in as little as a few million years. Eventually, the only luminous stars remaining will be white dwarf stars. By the end of this era, bright stars as we know them will be gone, their nuclear fuel exhausted, and only <a href="/wiki/White_dwarfs" class="mw-redirect" title="White dwarfs">white dwarfs</a>, <a href="/wiki/Brown_dwarfs" class="mw-redirect" title="Brown dwarfs">brown dwarfs</a>, <a href="/wiki/Neutron_stars" class="mw-redirect" title="Neutron stars">neutron stars</a> and <a href="/wiki/Black_holes" class="mw-redirect" title="Black holes">black holes</a> will remain. In this section, <a href="/wiki/Olbers%27_paradox" class="mw-redirect" title="Olbers' paradox">Olbers' paradox</a> is discussed. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Degenerate_Era">Degenerate Era</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Degenerate Era"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Degenerate Era is defined as "15 < n < 39". This is the era of brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. White dwarfs will assimilate <a href="/wiki/Dark_matter" title="Dark matter">dark matter</a> and continue with a nominal energy output. As this era continues, the authors hypothesize that protons will begin to <a href="/wiki/Proton_decay" title="Proton decay">decay</a> (violating the conservation of <a href="/wiki/Baryon" title="Baryon">baryon</a> number given by the <a href="/wiki/Standard_Model" title="Standard Model">Standard Model</a>). If proton decay takes place, the sole survivors will be black holes. If so, life becomes nearly impossible as planets decay. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Black_Hole_Era">Black Hole Era</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Black Hole Era"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Black Hole Era is defined as "40 < n < 100". In this era, according to the book, organized matter will remain only in the form of black holes. Black holes themselves slowly "evaporate" away the matter contained in them, by the quantum mechanical process of <a href="/wiki/Hawking_radiation" title="Hawking radiation">Hawking radiation</a>. By the end of this era, only extremely low-energy photons, electrons, positrons, and neutrinos will remain. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Dark_Era">Dark Era</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Dark Era"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Dark Era is defined as "n > 101". By this era, with only very diffuse matter remaining, activity in the universe will have tailed off dramatically, with very low energy levels and very large time scales. Electrons and positrons drifting through space will encounter one another and occasionally form <a href="/wiki/Positronium" title="Positronium">positronium</a> atoms. These structures are unstable, however, and their <a href="/wiki/Big_Rip" title="Big Rip">constituent particles must eventually annihilate</a>. Other low-level annihilation events will also take place, albeit very slowly. Essentially, the universe will eventually turn into a void. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Future_revision">Future revision</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Future revision"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The book was published in 1999. As of November 2013<sup class="plainlinks noexcerpt noprint asof-tag update" style="display:none;"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit">[update]</a></sup>, Gregory Laughlin makes the following statement on his web site:<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>A large number of interesting developments have occurred in physics and astronomy since the book was written, and many of these advances have a strong impact on our understanding of how the future will unfold. Fred and I are currently working on an update of the material in The Five Ages.</p></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ucolick.org/~laugh/homepage.html">"Gregory Laughlin"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Gregory+Laughlin&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucolick.org%2F~laugh%2Fhomepage.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Five+Ages+of+the+Universe" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/adams-universe.html">"Book review"</a>. <i>New York Times</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=New+York+Times&rft.atitle=Book+review&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fbooks%2Ffirst%2Fa%2Fadams-universe.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Five+Ages+of+the+Universe" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ucolick.org/~laugh/books.html">"G Laughlin -- Books"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=G+Laughlin+--+Books&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucolick.org%2F~laugh%2Fbooks.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Five+Ages+of+the+Universe" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090302035917/http://www.lsa.umich.edu/umich/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=aca1ed24e4516110VgnVCM1000009db1d38dRCRD&vgnextchannel=350e6b0ae62fd110VgnVCM100000a3b1d38dRCRD">Web page of Fred Adams</a> at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> (archived 2 March 2009)</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110207110535/http%3A//archive.ala.org/booklist/v95/adult/ap2/16adams.html">Booklist Magazine summary</a> at the <a href="/wiki/Library_of_Congress" title="Library of Congress">Library of Congress</a> Web Archives (archived 7 February 2011)</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist 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.navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Big_Bang_timeline" title="Template:Big Bang timeline"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Big_Bang_timeline" title="Template talk:Big Bang timeline"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Big_Bang_timeline" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Big Bang timeline"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Timeline_of_the_Big_Bang139" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Chronology_of_the_universe" title="Chronology of the universe">Timeline of the Big Bang</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Chronology_of_the_universe" title="Chronology of the universe">Chronology of the universe</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Big_Bang" title="Big Bang">Big Bang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Planck_epoch" class="mw-redirect" title="Planck epoch">Planck epoch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grand_unification_epoch" title="Grand unification epoch">Grand unification epoch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Electroweak_epoch" title="Electroweak epoch">Electroweak epoch</a> (<a href="/wiki/Inflationary_epoch" title="Inflationary epoch">Inflationary epoch</a>, <a href="/wiki/Inflation_(cosmology)#Reheating" class="mw-redirect" title="Inflation (cosmology)">Reheating</a>, <a href="/wiki/Baryogenesis" title="Baryogenesis">Baryogenesis</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quark_epoch" title="Quark epoch">Quark epoch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hadron_epoch" class="mw-redirect" title="Hadron epoch">Hadron epoch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lepton_epoch" title="Lepton epoch">Lepton epoch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Photon_epoch" title="Photon epoch">Photon epoch</a> (<a href="/wiki/Big_Bang_nucleosynthesis" title="Big Bang nucleosynthesis">Big Bang nucleosynthesis</a>, <a href="/wiki/Chronology_of_the_universe#Matter_domination" title="Chronology of the universe">Matter domination</a>, <a href="/wiki/Recombination_(cosmology)" title="Recombination (cosmology)">Recombination</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chronology_of_the_universe#Dark_Ages" title="Chronology of the universe">Dark ages</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chronology_of_the_universe#Habitable_epoch" title="Chronology of the universe">Habitable epoch</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reionization" title="Reionization">Reionization</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Ultimate_fate_of_the_universe" title="Ultimate fate of the universe">Fate of the universe</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe" title="Heat death of the universe">Heat death of the universe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Big_Rip" title="Big Rip">Big Rip</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Big_Crunch" title="Big Crunch">Big Crunch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Big_Bounce" title="Big Bounce">Big Bounce</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Big_Slurp" class="mw-redirect" title="Big Slurp">Big Slurp</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&oldid=1273684475#Ages">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe&oldid=1273684475#Ages</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" 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