Yes, that's right, Hoyle is believed to have applied the name Big Bang in derision, although it wasn't long before supporting evidence blew his own theory out of the water.

BTW, on the subject of historical figures: as you may already know, the cosmogony of Anaximander, a student of Thales, was very much in accord with aspects of today's cosmology. As coincidental as that may be, his thinking represented a shift from mythology to rationality, which many people - perhaps most - appear to find impossible even now.

Any cosmologist worthy of the title is solely concerned with discovering what 'is', via the rational scientific modus operandi, rather than imposing upon the universe a cosmological model simply because, for example, it tugs at their heart strings.


"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" - John Wheeler