  How much of modern cosmology is really cosmography? How much of modern
cosmology is independent of the Einstein equations? (Independent of the
Friedmann equations?) These questions are becoming increasingly germane -- as
the models cosmologists use for the stress-energy content of the universe
become increasingly baroque, it behoves us to step back a little and carefully
disentangle cosmological kinematics from cosmological dynamics. The use of
basic symmetry principles (such as the cosmological principle) permits us to do
a considerable amount, without ever having to address the vexatious issues of
just how much "dark energy", "dark matter", "quintessence", and/or "phantom
matter" is needed in order to satisfy the Einstein equations. This is the
sub-sector of cosmology that Weinberg refers to as "cosmography", and in this
article I will explore the extent to which cosmography is sufficient for
analyzing the Hubble law and so describing many of the features of the universe
around us.
