Cosmology Solved?

                     Michael S. Turner 
               University of Chicago and Fermilab


The discovery of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in 1964 by 
Penzias and Wilson led to the establishment of the hot
big-bang as the standard cosmological model some ten years later.
Discoveries made in 1998 may ultimately have as profound an
effect on our understanding of the origin and evolution
of the Universe.  Taken at face value, they confirm the basic
tenets of Inflation + Cold Dark Matter, a theory
that addresses all the fundamental questions left
unanswered by the hot big-bang model.  Just as it took a decade
to establish the hot big-bang model
after the discovery of the CMB, it will likely take another
ten years to establish the latest addition to the standard
cosmology.  Whether or not 1998 proves to be a cosmic milestone,
the coming avalanche of high-quality cosmological data
promises to make the next twenty years an extremely exciting
period for cosmology.