I don't want to get caught up in semantics, but...
re:
Quote:
Originally posted by jjw:
1..To suggest that the universe is expanding is like saying that space itself is expanding.
Yes, that's exactly right, space is expanding.
2..Otherwise I expect a distinction to be made between space and the universe.
So, no there shouldn't be a distinction.
3..I want an endless space that may contain a limited universe- or not.
Here is where semantics get difficult. I guess here I'd just say the definition of universe is all inclusive, so not 'limited' (except by the expansion of space).
4..Every time we invent a better telescope for orbiting we see more objects. jjw [/QB]
This last statement is one of my favorite points: y'know the Observer Effect? Well maybe by observing farther, we are causing the universe to expand; and by observing more frequently, we are causing the expansion to accelerate.

If I want to think of outside the universe (our 4-D universe) I think of it as a 4-D bubble on an anti-DeSitter membrane in 8-space being sucked into a blck hole. -Hey, maybe that's why we're expanding; being stretched as we decend into the black hole. Hope this gives you a laugh (...but pause for a thought too). I've certainly questioned all these precepts too; and still do!
~Sam

Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.