The shape of the universe is a matter of debate in physical cosmology over the local and global geometry of the universe which considers both curvature and topology, though, strictly speaking, it goes beyond both. In practice, more formally, the debate seeks a 3-manifold that corresponds to the spatial section (in comoving coordinates) of the 4-dimensional space-time of the universe.
The recent Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) measurements have led NASA to state, "We now know that the universe is flat with only a 0.5% margin of error." Within the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) model, the presently most popular shape of the Universe found to fit observational data according to cosmologists is the infinite flat model, while other FLRW models that fit the data include the Poincaré dodecahedral space and the Picard horn.
Read more about Shape Of The Universe: Introduction, Local Geometry (spatial Curvature), Global Geometry
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“It is as real
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and are there and are true.
What else is this, this intricate shape of air?
calling me, calling you.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“It is only a short step from exaggerating what we can find in the world to exaggerating our power to remake the world. Expecting more novelty than there is, more greatness than there is, and more strangeness than there is, we imagine ourselves masters of a plastic universe. But a world we can shape to our will ... is a shapeless world.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
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