# Closing in on the Cosmos: Cosmology's Rebirth and the Rise of the Dark Matter Problem

## TL;DR

This paper discusses the evolution of cosmology from a theoretical to an empirical science in the 1960s, highlighting the influence of prior beliefs and the emergence of the dark matter problem as a key scientific challenge.

## Contribution

It analyzes the historical shift in cosmology's methodology and the role of beliefs in shaping scientific understanding, especially regarding dark matter.

## Key findings

- Cosmology transitioned to an empirical science in the 1960s.
- Beliefs in a closed universe influenced early cosmological models.
- The dark matter problem emerged as a pivotal scientific issue in the 1970s.

## Abstract

Influenced by the renaissance of general relativity that came to pass in the 1950s, the character of cosmology fundamentally changed in the 1960s as it became a well-established empirical science. Although observations went to dominate its practice, extra-theoretical beliefs and principles reminiscent of methodological debates in the 1950s kept playing an important tacit role in cosmological considerations. Specifically, belief in cosmologies that modeled a "closed universe" based on Machian insights remained influential. The rise of the dark matter problem in the early 1970s serves to illustrate this hybrid methodological character of cosmological science.