Cosmic Aesthetics: Harmonising varying theoretical perspectives in a thesis by publication

Cosmology, as a field of science, represents a reasoned pursuit to understand the fundamental mechanisms of the Universe, with the aim of charting the evolutionary timeline of the Universe. These mechanisms interact to manifest the harmony and order in the Universe on the largest scales.
Cosmology, although a precision observational science, is richly layered with deep roots in philosophy, religion, mythology and culture. More importantly, the Cosmos and, by extension, cosmology encapsulates a certain innate mystery and awe, together with a spectrum of aesthetic experiences from those grounded in the everyday to those grounded in the discipline of cosmology itself. This spectrum of aesthetics is an important part of the teaching and learning of cosmology; owing to the nature of the field where there is an interplay between declarative knowledge, consensus ideas, and speculation.
This chapter unpacks a personal perspective on the challenges that arise from the methodological approach of bringing together various theoretical and philosophical perspectives. The aim of combining these multiple perspectives being to connect aesthetic experiences, meaning-making, conceptions, reasoning, and epistemic practices of the field of cosmology into a coherent and harmonious line of inquiry in a thesis by publication focussing on cosmology education at high school.