Current research in astronomy confronts
a host of unanswered questions: “How
old are we?”, “What is the fate of the
Universe?”, “How unique is the Universe?”
and “Could a slightly different Universe
ever have supported life?” Pursuing these
questions is a fundamental part of being
human, yet in today’s world it has become
increasingly important to be able to justify the pursuit of the answers. The difficulties
in describing the importance of astronomy,
and fundamental research in general,
are well summarised by Nobel Prize winner
Ahmed Zewali