Status Updates From Spacetime, Geometry, Cosmology

"A useful learning tactic, when one is faced with new abstract material, is to proceed slowly from the specific to the general, from the concrete to the abstract. The tremendous success of Euclidean geometry as a deductive system has led people to feel that a subject should be developed in the deductive mode, from general rules to specific examples. They are mistaken, especially when it comes to learning."

"A good analogy for this model making is the construction of a map of a city. The city and the map of the city are two distinct things that no one would confuse. This confusion is harder to avoid in cosmology."