Suggested preparation: Undergraduate physics, calculus and differential equations.
Optional preparation: Free MIT Course: Black Holes and Relativistic Astrophysics.
About this course
Study the early universe through expansion, thermal history and inflation. MIT lectures connect cosmological models with the physical reasoning used to describe large-scale evolution.
Topics and lesson examples
- 1. Inflationary Cosmology: Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse? Part I
- 6. The Dynamics of Homogeneous Expansion, Part II
- 12. Non-Euclidean Spaces: Open Universes and the Spacetime Metric
- 17. Black-Body Radiation and the Early History of the Universe, Part III
- 23. Inflation
Course at a glance
| Provider | MIT |
|---|---|
| Platform | YouTube · MIT OpenCourseWare |
| Access | Free Video |
| Level | Professional — WikiFree study-level assessment |
| Language | English |
| Available lessons | 23 |
| Video duration | 28h 52m · self-paced |
| Details checked | 10 October 2026 |
Preparation and study approach
Suggested preparation: Undergraduate physics, calculus and differential equations.
Follow the available videos in sequence, pausing to summarize the main argument or reconstruct a worked example. Keep a short list of assumptions, unfamiliar terms and questions to revisit. Additional reading, problem solving and practice will take time beyond the listed video duration.
Using this video classroom
Select a lesson from the list, or search for a topic. Previous and Next move through the sequence. You can mark lessons complete; progress is stored in this browser without a WikiFree account.
Free access and course scope
The public MIT OpenCourseWare videos in this classroom are free to watch. This listing provides the available playlist recordings, which may include selected lectures, recitations, demonstrations or supporting discussions rather than every component of the original campus course. Textbooks, equipment, software licenses, supervised labs, graded assignments and instructor feedback are not supplied by WikiFree. No purchase is required to watch the videos or use the note-based study approach above.
WikiFree independently organizes these resources for self-paced study. Watching does not award an MIT certificate, academic credit or admission to MIT.
Video provider and credit: MIT OpenCourseWare on YouTube. WikiFree titles, descriptions and cover artwork are independently prepared.
Related courses for your next step
- Review a lower-level optionFree MIT Course: Black Holes and Relativistic Astrophysics
Focus: 1. Introduction to the Class · 2. The Universe: Questions You Were Afraid to Ask
Intermediate
Compare course focus, level and study time
| Course | Level | Focus | Study time |
|---|---|---|---|
| This course — Free MIT Course: Cosmology and the Early Universe | Professional | 1. Inflationary Cosmology: Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse? Part I · 6. The Dynamics of Homogeneous Expansion, Part II · 12. Non-Euclidean Spaces: Open Universes and the Spacetime Metric | 28h 52m of video; practice time is additional |
| Free MIT Course: Black Holes and Relativistic Astrophysics | Intermediate | 1. Introduction to the Class · 2. The Universe: Questions You Were Afraid to Ask · 5. Einstein's Field Equations | 6h 34m of video; practice time is additional |
Provider: MIT. Videos play from the MIT OpenCourseWare channel on YouTube.
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