The principle of mediocrity

Abstract

For the 2011 RAS Whitrow Lecture, Alexander Vilenkin discusses the new cosmological worldview in which much of the universe is in a state of constant accelerated expansion, called inflation, and we live on one of the many bubbles with diverse properties that are constantly being formed. What is the origin of this worldview, its possible observational tests, and its implications for the beginning and the end of the universe? © 2011 Royal Astronomical Society.