Big  Bang    by  Simon  Singh  

All  picture  from  Wikipedia  and  Wikicommon  

IN  THE  BEGINNING  Chapter  1  

Myths,  Gods  and  Monsters  

6th  Century  BC,  Greece  

In  the  beginning,  universe  is  explained  

as  

universe  

Greek  philospher  began  to  describe  

universe  as  

Supra-­‐natural  phenomena  

Natural  phenomena  

Model/theory  

according  to  Greek  Proto-­‐scienGst  

Natural  

Simple  

Accurate  

Viable  Model/theory  using  

Experi-­‐ment  

Logic  

Math  

ObservaGons  

Size  of  Earth,  Sun,  Moon,  and  their  distances  

A  Greek  astronomers  established  a  false  earth-­‐centered  model  of  universe  

Theologian  support  earth-­‐centered  model  as  it  was  consistent  with  the  Bible  

In  16th  century  Copernicus  constructed  a  sun-­‐centered  model  

•  It  was  simple  and  reasonably  accurate  

Unfortunately,  Copernicus’s  model  was  ignored  because  

•  He  is  virtually  unknown  •  His  model  defied  common-­‐sense  

•  His  model  was  less  accurate  than  Ptolemy’s  

•  Religious  (and  scienGfic)  orthodoxy  quashed  original  thought  

Copernicus’  model  was  improved  by  Kepler  using  Tyhco’s  observaGons  

•  Planets  follow  (slightly)  ellipGcal,  not  circular  orbits  

•  The  sun-­‐centered  model  was  now  simpler  and  more  accurate  than  earth-­‐centered  model  

Galileo  championed  the  sun-­‐centered  model  

•  Using  telescope,  show  that  Jupiter  has  moons,  the  sun  has  spots,  and  Venus  has  phases  

Galileo  and  Church  

•  Galileo  wrote  a  book  explaining  why  the  sun-­‐centered  model  was  correct,  unfortunately  the  church  bullied  Galileo  and  forced  him  to  recant  in  1633  

•  In  later  centuries,  the  church  become  more  tolerant.  

•  Astronomers  adopted  the  sun  centered  model  and  science  flourished.  

The  Quest  

•  By  1900  cosmologists  concluded  that  the  universe  was  not  created  but  existed  for  eternity  

•  But  there  was  no  evidence  to  back  this  theory  •  The  eternal  universe  hypothesis  was  not  much  more  than  a  myth  

•  20th  century  cosmologist  would  return  to  the  big  quesGon  and  address  it  scienGfically:  – Is  the  universe  eternal  an  unlimited?  Or…  – Was  universe  created  and  limited?