http://www.infoplease.com/cig/theories-universe/scientific-origins-universe.

html
big bang theory, the idea that the universe came into existence at a certain point in time roughly 15 to 20
billion years ago.
The Ptolemaic system was strongly influenced by the deductive method (theory and math as opposed to
observation).
During the rise of science, two central concepts of medieval cosmology were overthrownthe idea of a
decaying universe, finite in space and time, and the belief that the world could be known through reason
and authority. The deductive, finite Ptolemaic system was replaced with the empirical, eternal, and infinite
universe that was evolving by natural processes. It was a universe knowable by observation and
experiment.

Today's view of cosmology is much closer to the systems of Ptolemy and Augustine than Galileo
and Kepler. The big bang universe is a finite one that will eventually end in either the big chill or
the big crunch, (we'll examine both of these theories in Supersymmetry, Superstrings, and
Holograms) which like the medieval cosmos is finite in time. The universe of popular cosmology
is the product of a single unique event, dissimilar from anything else that has ever occurredjust
as the medieval universe was seen as a product of creation.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/astronomy-terms/space-shape1.htm

http://www.polaris.iastate.edu/EveningStar/Unit1/unit1_sub3.htm
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ptolemaic+theory
http://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/astronomy-terms/space-shape1.htm
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/19429.pdf
http://www.space.com/24781-big-bang-theory-alternatives-infographic.html
http://www.universetoday.com/104863/goodbye-big-bang-hello-hyper-black-hole-anew-theory-on-universes-creation/
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/universes/html/ptole.html
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090812061314AAVj6Jz