Why is the big bang theory not an accurate name for what happened?

Answer 1

Like any other theory, the Big Bang theory

-- does a good job (though not perfect) of explaining a lot of things that are observed now. Like the fact that the universe is expanding.

-- leads to some predictions that are confirmed by observations designed to test them. Like the fact that the movements of galaxies is affected by redshift, which is only possible if we are moving away from them or they are moving away from us.

-- can never be proven. But it can be disproven in a second if the right evidence against it is observed. What science gives and logical thought gives us, they can take away.

Answer 2

Because, contrary to how popular descriptions of the event may show it, the event was not a "bang" at all. It was NOT an explosion of dense matter into empty space, nor was it an expansion of 3-D space into something else. It was an expansion -- a loweing of the density -- of space itself, taking matter along for the "ride."

Answer 3

The term "Big Bang" can be misleading as it gives the impression of an explosion. In reality, it was a rapid expansion of space-time that started the universe and not an explosion from a single point. The theory also doesn't address what happened before the initial expansion.