--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The missing link in cosmology is the…" description: "\"The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.\" — Stephen Hawking" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cd/stephen-hawking-389_cosmology_the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nat_2943474.jpg" --- # The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter… ![“The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.” quote by Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cd/stephen-hawking-389_cosmology_the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nat_2943474.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cd/stephen-hawking-389_cosmology_the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nat_2943474.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cd/stephen-hawking-389_cosmology_the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nat_2943474.jpg) > “The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.” [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dark matter and dark energy are the missing pieces needed to complete cosmology. **In simple terms:** Understanding dark forces is key to cosmic knowledge. Key Takeaway Research dark components to complete the universe. Themes cosmology physics unknowns Mood curious scientific Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - academic research - science education - public outreach Key Concepts dark matter theory dark energy theory Questions to Reflect On - What would discovering them change? - How do we study unseen phenomena? A Different Perspective Dark components may never be fully understood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cosmology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmology/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Dark energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-energy/) [Dark matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-matter/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [In terms of the most astonishing fact about which we know nothing, there is dark matter and dark energy. We don't know what either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-terms-of-the-most-astonishing-fact-about-which-we-know-nothing/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [You know, there's black holes and what - could there be wormholes? Could - might there be a multi-verse? These are all fascinating frontiers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/you-know-there-s-black-holes-and-what-could-there-be-wormholes-could/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If dark matter and dark energy are 95 percent of everything, shouldn't we all be asking questions about that? What does that look like?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shea-hembrey/if-dark-matter-and-dark-energy-are-95-percent-of-everything-shouldn-t/) [Shea Hembrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shea-hembrey/) > [“Figure 4.1: Both dark matter and dark energy are invisible, which means that they refuse to interact with light and other electromagnetic phenomena. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/figure-4-1-both-dark-matter-and-dark-energy-are-invisible-which-means/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [Dark matter and dark energy are two things we measure in the universe that are making things happen, and we have no idea what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/dark-matter-and-dark-energy-are-two-things-we-measure-in-the-universe/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I got fascinated by the idea that our universe itself is comprised mostly of dark matter and dark energy. Things that we can't perceive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-snyder/i-got-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-our-universe-itself-is-comprised/) [Scott Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-snyder/) > [We still don't know what about 96 per cent of the universe is made of. It is dark matter and dark energy, but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-bell-burnell/we-still-don-t-know-what-about-96-per-cent-of-the-universe-is-made-of/) [Jocelyn Bell Burnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-bell-burnell/) > [The existence of dark matter and dark energy are inferred from observations! They are not theoretical constructs. Though invisible, both reveal their presence through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyamvada-natarajan/the-existence-of-dark-matter-and-dark-energy-are-inferred-from/) [Priyamvada Natarajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyamvada-natarajan/) > [I want to know what dark matter and dark energy are comprised of. They remain a mystery, a complete mystery. No one is any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-want-to-know-what-dark-matter-and-dark-energy-are-comprised-of-they/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“Right now there's a commonly-held view among scientists that we know about only four percent of all the matter in the universe. Four percent!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-kazinski/right-now-there-s-a-commonly-held-view-among-scientists-that-we-know/) [A.J. Kazinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-kazinski/) > [“The most accurate measurements to date reveal dark energy as the most prominent thing in town, currently responsible for 68 percent of all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-most-accurate-measurements-to-date-reveal-dark-energy-as-the-most/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“The Five Great Problems in Theoretical Physics: Problem 1: Combine general relativity and quantum theory into a single theory that can claim to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/the-five-great-problems-in-theoretical-physics-problem-1-combine/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“How could space not be infinite? How could an infinite space get created in a finite time? What’s our Universe expanding into? Where in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/how-could-space-not-be-infinite-how-could-an-infinite-space-get/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [Science has proved that everything is energy, and now they have dark energy, dark matter. They don't call it all-embracing consciousness; they call it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-davies/science-has-proved-that-everything-is-energy-and-now-they-have-dark/) [Dave Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-davies/) > [“Ordinary matter is what we are all made of. It has gravity and interacts with light. Dark matter is a mysterious substance that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/ordinary-matter-is-what-we-are-all-made-of-it-has-gravity-and/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## More by Stephen Hawking > [The doctor who diagnosed me with ALS, or motor neuron disease, told me that it would kill me in two or three years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-doctor-who-diagnosed-me-with-als-or-motor-neuron-disease-told-me/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [We are the product of quantum fluctuations in the very early universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/we-are-the-product-of-quantum-fluctuations-in-the-very-early-universe/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [The human race does not have a very good record of intelligent behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-human-race-does-not-have-a-very-good-record-of-intelligent/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“We have finally found something that doesn’t have a cause, because there was no time for a cause to exist in. For me this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/we-have-finally-found-something-that-doesn-t-have-a-cause-because/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [ \[On President Bush's plan to get to Mars in 10 years\] Stupid. Robots would do a better job and be much cheaper because you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/on-president-bush-s-plan-to-get-to-mars-in-10-years-stupid-robots/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/i-believe-the-simplest-explanation-is-there-is-no-god-no-one-created/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-paralympic-games-is-about-transforming-our-perception-of-the-world/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes the past from the future, giving a direction to time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-increase-of-disorder-or-entropy-is-what-distinguishes-the-past/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [Most sets of values would give rise to universes that, although they might be very beautiful, would contain no one able to wonder at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/most-sets-of-values-would-give-rise-to-universes-that-although-they/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, and science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/there-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-religion-which-is-based-on/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“In the eighteenth century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: Did the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/in-the-eighteenth-century-philosophers-considered-the-whole-of-human/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [A model is a good model if first it interprets a wide range of observations in terms of a simple and elegant model, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/a-model-is-a-good-model-if-first-it-interprets-a-wide-range-of/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“Empedocles noticed that if you cover the neck before you immerse it, a clepsydra does not fill. He reasoned that something invisible must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/empedocles-noticed-that-if-you-cover-the-neck-before-you-immerse-it-a/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-human-race-shouldn-t-have-all-its-eggs-in-one-basket-or-on-one/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [I hope I have helped to raise the profile of science and to show that physics is not a mystery but can be understood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/i-hope-i-have-helped-to-raise-the-profile-of-science-and-to-show-that/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) [Explore all 601 Stephen Hawking quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) ## More Cosmology quotes > [Natural history is not taught in seminary. This is curious, as most people in pastoral ministry are about 567 times more likely to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-maitland/natural-history-is-not-taught-in-seminary-this-is-curious-as-most/) [Sara Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-maitland/) > [An observer situated in a nebula and moving with the nebula will observe the same properties of the universe as any other similarly situated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-bondi/an-observer-situated-in-a-nebula-and-moving-with-the-nebula-will/) [Hermann Bondi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-bondi/) > [I've always been fascinated by physics and cosmology. It gets more and more scary the older you get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-physics-and-cosmology-it-gets-more-and/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) > [The Buddha gave his first talks, and three or four ascetics became his first disciples. They recognized his enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-buddha-gave-his-first-talks-and-three-or-four-ascetics-became-his/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Over a period of years he collected thousands of discples. Many became his students. Many didn't become his students but whenever he was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/over-a-period-of-years-he-collected-thousands-of-discples-many-became/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“It is irrelevant whether or not there are other forms of life in the Galaxy or in other galaxies. The fact that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamal-nazrul-islam/it-is-irrelevant-whether-or-not-there-are-other-forms-of-life-in-the/) [Jamal Nazrul Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamal-nazrul-islam/) > [There may be an art to conversation, and some are better at it than others, but conversation's virtue lies in randomness and possibility: people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/there-may-be-an-art-to-conversation-and-some-are-better-at-it-than/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [Astronomy, as nothing else can do, teaches men humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/astronomy-as-nothing-else-can-do-teaches-men-humility/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [I have my own cosmology that's kind of like an esoteric mix of a lot of different things that work for me and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weyes-blood/i-have-my-own-cosmology-that-s-kind-of-like-an-esoteric-mix-of-a-lot/) [Weyes Blood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weyes-blood/) > [Knowledge of the Enlightenment Cycle, of the ways that inner dimensions and nirvana work, lifts you far above the transient sorrows, pains, pleasures and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/knowledge-of-the-enlightenment-cycle-of-the-ways-that-inner/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“The total amount of energy from outside the solar system ever received by all the radio telescopes on the planet Earth is less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-total-amount-of-energy-from-outside-the-solar-system-ever/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [What we're starting to see is a quantum biology, it being applied in biology and cosmology and a host of other sciences, because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/what-we-re-starting-to-see-is-a-quantum-biology-it-being-applied-in/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [ “\[On the Human Soul\] While the Bible offers a clear distinction that the soul is separate from the body and discusses the idea of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-goedken/on-the-human-soul-while-the-bible-offers-a-clear-distinction-that-the/) [Brian Goedken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-goedken/) [Browse all 297 Cosmology quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmology/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Hawking" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nature-of-dark-matter-and-dark/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cosmology" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nature-of-dark-matter-and-dark/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cd/stephen-hawking-389_cosmology_the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nat_2943474.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cd/stephen-hawking-389_cosmology_the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nat_2943474.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cd/stephen-hawking-389_cosmology_the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nat_2943474.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.” — Stephen Hawking", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stephen Hawking", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The missing link in cosmology is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nature-of-dark-matter-and-dark/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-missing-link-in-cosmology-is-the-nature-of-dark-matter-and-dark/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```