Originally Posted By: redewenur
I mean there's a wealth of info relating to a vast bank of accumulated observational and experimental data which, supported by rigorous mathematical physics, has transformed the Big Bang from a highly speculative model into a very sound theory.
Interestingly, it was the Belgian and Jesuit priest FATHER GEORGE LEMAITRE--a master of "rigorous mathematical physics", who was the father of the BB theory. Ironically, the name "Big Bang" was coined by Fred Hoyle, an atheist who was the originator of the "steady state" theory. He described, wrongly, as it turns out to be, a universe having no beginning and no end.

Lemaitre spoke more about a Cosmic egg, or the Primeval Atom, multiplying--an idea that I like. This prompts the question: Who, or what, was there that generated the first egg, or atom?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre
Quote:
At this time, Einstein, while not taking exception to the mathematics of Lemaître's theory, refused to accept the idea of an expanding universe; Lemaître recalled him commenting "Vos calculs sont corrects, mais votre physique est abominable" ("Your math is correct, but your physics is abominable.")

The same year, Lemaître returned to MIT to present his doctoral thesis on The gravitational field in a fluid sphere of uniform invariant density according to the theory of relativity. Upon obtaining the PhD, he was named Ordinary Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain. He was a great advocate of using the computer to do mathematics.

In 1930, Eddington published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society a long commentary on Lemaître's 1927 article, in which he described the latter as a "brilliant solution" to the outstanding problems of cosmology. The original paper was published in an abbreviated English translation in 1931, along with a sequel by Lemaître responding to Eddington's comments.

Lemaître was then invited to London in order to take part in a meeting of the British Association on the relation between the physical Universe and spirituality. There he proposed that the Universe expanded from an initial point, which he called the "Primeval Atom" and developed in a report published in Nature. Lemaître himself also described his theory as "the Cosmic Egg exploding at the moment of the creation"; it became better known as the "Big Bang theory," a term coined by Fred Hoyle.

Last edited by Revlgking; 04/26/11 06:57 PM.

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