Where did the big bang theory originate?

Answer 1

The theologian and physician Georges Lemaître is believed to be the founder of the big bang theory. He first described the conditions within the first seconds of our universe 1931,with the term "primordial atom".

The Big Bang theory explains only that such a rapid expansion caused the young universe to cool and resulted in its present continuously expanding state.

No common agreement exists as to the conditions leading up to the Big Bang, for it is believed that conditions were too different for our knowledge to be applicable.

It was the British mathematician Sir Fred Hoyle who coined the phrase "Big bang" in a radio broadcast in 1949. [He favoured an alternate hypothesis, subsequently abandoned.]

Answer 2

Big Bang is a cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent development of the universe. It is supported by the most comprehensive and accurate explanations from current scientific evidence and observation. As used by cosmologists, the term Big Bang generally refers to the idea that the universe has expanded from a primordial hot and dense initial condition at some finite time in the past, and continues to expand to this day.

The scientist and Roman Catholic priest George Lemaitre proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, although he called it his "hypothesis of the primeval atom". The framework for the model relies on Albert Einstein's general relativity and on simplifying assumptions (such as homogeneity and isotropy of space). The governing equations had been formulated by Alexander Friedmann. After Edwin Hubble discovered in 1929 that the distances to far away galaxies were generally proportional to their redshifts, as suggested by Lemaitre in 1927, this observation was taken to indicate that all very distant galaxies and clusters have an apparent velocity directly away from our vantage point: the farther away, the higher the apparent velocity. If the distance between galaxy clusters is increasing today, everything must have been closer together in the past. This idea has been considered in detail back in time to extreme densities and temperatures, and large particle accelerators have been built to experiment on and test such conditions, resulting in significant confirmation of the theory, but these accelerators have limited capabilities to probe into such high energy regimes. Without any evidence associated with the earliest instant of the expansion, the Big Bang theory cannot and does not provide any explanation for such an initial condition; rather, it describes and explains the general evolution of the universe since that instant. The observed abundances of the light elements throughout the cosmos closely match the calculated predictions for the formation of these elements from nuclear processes in the rapidly expanding and cooling first minutes of the universe, as logically and quantitatively detailed according to Big Bang nucleosynthesis.

Fred Hoyle is credited with coining the phrase "Big Bang" during a 1949 radio broadcast, as a derisive reference to a theory he did not subscribe to. Hoyle later helped considerably in the effort to figure out the nuclear pathway for building certain heavier elements from lighter ones. After the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 1964, and especially when its spectrum (i.e., the amount of radiation measured at each wavelength) sketched out a blackbody curve, most scientists were fairly convinced by the evidence that some Big Bang scenario must have occurred.

Answer 3

Georges Lemaître, a physicist and Belgian Catholic priest, set down one of the first modern propositions of the Big Bang theory for the origin of the universe. It was in 1927 that he published his "hypothesis of the primeval atom", which was based on Einstein's work.

Edwin Hubble came along in 1929 with the physical observations that the universe is expanding. This confirmed Lemaître's ideas. It turns out that far away objects are moving away from us quickly. And the farther away they are, the faster they're moving away. Other astronomers looked to see if they could see it in the so-called redshift (Doppler shift) in the retreating galaxies and other bright, distant objects. They could. Since the universe was expanding (and it was and still is according to all observations), the next logical step is to "rewind" the show all the way back to where the universe started expanding. Presto! Big Bang!

How did the Big Bang theory originate? That's it in a nutshell. Links are provided to the relevant Wikipedia articles on the Big Bang cosmological model.

Answer 4

Theories are "developed", not "discovered". A theory is an explanation - not necessarily complete or even accurate - as to how things work the way they do.

We don't KNOW that the "Big Bang" happened the way scientists believe it did. We weren't there; but, fortunately, we can see the light that arose from recombination, 377,000 years after the BB. In that sense, we can see the recombination in the same way we can see a supernova.

Scientists analyze the facts that they can see, and develop explanations as to how things work based on the facts and the evidence.

Theories are supported when you can use a theory to make a prediction, and then see if the prediction works out. Isaac newton developed a theory of gravity that explained why things move and fall the way they do. His theories of gravity were supported by experiments and by evidence; when we fire a cannon in THIS direction with THAT much gunpowder, the math says that the cannonball will fall HERE. Does it? Check; this part of the theory is confirmed.

We see the planets moving through the sky. What makes them move that way? Gravity. Let's do the math and see if the calculations predict the observations. Venus; check. Mars? Check. Jupiter? yup. Saturn? Roger. Uranus? perfectly.

Mercury? Not so much. It turned out that Newton's calculations for Mercury's orbit were off by just a bit; the planet didn't behave the way Newton's calculations said it ought to. Newton was WRONG.

OK, that's over the top. Newton's explanations are fine for normal masses at normal speeds. But it took a guy named Albert Einstein to say that Newton's laws needed to be tweaked just a bit in the area of very large masses or vary high velocities. Einstein's mods to Newton's theory turned out to be much closer to the actual observations.

Fortunately, Big Bang Cosmology DOES make predictions, and, when people took the time to check if these matched observation, we found that the two fully agreed. For instance, Gamow predicted the existence of the cosmic background microwave radiation in 1946, eighteen years before it was discovered. The Big Bang predicted a certain ratio of hydrogen to helium to deuterium to lithium -- and it agreed. Inflation Cosmology predicted the angular width of an-isotropies in the CMBR -- and WMAP found the two agreed. The Big Bang makes predictions of observations just like Newton's Theory of Gravity did -- and, like Newton's ideas, prediction and observation match.

And on that note, let me mention that there is a new massive science lab in Europe which may - just may - be able to come up with some of the answers. That's the Large Hadron Collider.

Georges Lemaitre proposed a theory of an expanding universe in 1929, and a couple of years later, 1931, proposed that it started out a a 'primevil atom'.

It wasn't until 1949, however, that Fred Hoyle attached the name 'Big Bang' to the theory. The basic theory has stayed the same, although details are gradually added or changed to reflect new discoveries.

Answer 5

At the time of the Big Bang, all the space was a single point. It started expanding after the Big Bang. In a way, the Big Bang created space and hence, occurred everywhere in it.

there was no space or anything else before the big bang there for you can`t say where the big bang happened because there was nothing it could happen in space .the big bang created space and time before that no space no time no no nothing

Answer 6

Model of the origin of the universe, which holds that it emerged from a state of extremely high temperature and density in an explosive expansion 10 billion-15 billion years ago.

Its two basic assumptions-that Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity correctly describes the gravitational interaction of all matter and that an observer's view of the universe does not depend on direction of observation or on location-make it possible to calculate physical conditions in the universe back to a very early time called the Planck time (after Max Planck). According to the model proposed by George Gamow in the 1940s, the universe expanded rapidly from a highly compressed early state, with a steady decrease in density and temperature. Within seconds, matter predominated over antimatter and certain nuclei formed. It took another million years before atoms could form and electromagnetic radiation could travel through space unimpeded. The abundances of hydrogen, helium, and lithium and the discovery of cosmic background radiation support the model, which also explains the redshifts of the light from distant galaxies as resulting from the expansion of space.

Answer 7

In 1925, Alexander Friedmann took the mathematics of general relativity, and showed that our Universe could either be expanding or contracting.

In 1927, Jesuit priest Georges LeMaitre proposed the idea that our Universe was expanding, and that we should thus see red-shifts in distant galaxies.

Very few people took note of either work, however.

Two years later, Edwin Hubble noted that distant galaxies were, indeed, red-shifted. LeMaitre's work then became famous; and he soon developed the idea that our Universe once had (in his words) "a day with no yesterday."

Answer 8

Big Bang Cosmology was first proposed by Jesuit Georges LeMaitre in a 1927 scientific paper. At the time, Father LeMaitre was working at the Catholic University of Leuven, in Belgium. He made further refinements of his hypothesis over the next few years while continuing to work there.

Answer 9

The question is meaningless. Our understanding of the mathematical description of the "big bang" seems to indicate that there was NOTHING before, and that there was no place - literally "NO PLACES" in the universe. We're pretty sure that the concept of "before" didn't apply to the big bang; the big bang may have created the very ideas of "time" and "space".

And then, the whole concept of "big bang" may be entirely wrong and the next 50 years may take the study of cosmology in an entirely new direction. It wouldn't be the first time this had happened.

Answer 10

The theory was first discussed about 80 years ago.

The Big Bang itself is estimated to have happened about 13.7 billion years ago.