Cosmic Inflation: How the Universe became locally flat and plentiful
  The standard model of cosmology is based on the hot Big Bang theory and the
inflationary paradigm. Recent precise observations of the temperature and
polarization anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and the matter
distribution in large scale structures like galaxies and clusters confirm the
general paradigm and put severe constrains on variations of this simple idea.
In this essay I will discuss the epistemological foundations of such a paradigm
and speculate on its possible realization within a more fundamental theory.
