SW, The majority of scientists do support the Big Bang simply because it is the theory that best fits the observations. There are some who do not really believe in it, but they can't come up with a good theory that also fits the observations. As Orac said, he doesn't believe it, but he still teaches it, because it does fit the observations. There are also scientists who disagree with parts of the Big Bang theory. A few months ago in Scientific American there was an article by a scientist who doubts the inflationary theory that is currently considered to be a part of the Big Bang. However, that doesn't change the fact that the Big Bang is the best fit to observations.
As far as popular science quoting the Big Bang as fact, well it is popular science. Journalists writing popular science articles and books tend to latch onto an idea and present it as a fact, rather than explaining the various complications that appear in the actual scientific literature, which is rather hard to comprehend for the average reader.
In fact the Big Bang as it is usually presented is a relatively simple thing. The basis is simple, all the matter in the universe was gathered in a small space, then it started expanding and eventually evolved into the universe as we see it today. In reality there are a lot of fuzzy ideas around the edges and the details are still up for grabs, scientists are hotly fighting over all those details. The extent and amount of matter in the total universe are a couple details that are till under study. Anybody who says that they know is probably just speculating.
But once again, there have been a lot of attempts to explain the expansion of the universe, the SSU was one of them It is most frequently mentioned because it is the best known.
The discovery of the CMB brought most of the arguments against the Big Bang to a close because it so exactly matches what could be expected. It was a huge step towards the almost complete acceptance of the Big Bang just because nobody has come up with another explanation for it that can withstand scientific scrutiny. And believe me it has been heavily scrutinized by the scientific community. Just as all scientific results are scrutinized. There have been almost no scientific theories that have been accepted from the day they were propounded. And in fact no scientific theory is accepted as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Scientists are always looking for a different explanation. After all if somebody could overthrow the Big Bang Theory it would be an automatic Nobel Prize.
Bill Gill
