“Everyone would be keen to abandon the theory if there’s a better alternative, nobody’s married to the Big Bang theory” – Pro-Big Bang astrophysicist Claudia Marason
Everyone? Just like that? Steve Meyer, author of The Return of the God Hypothesis, points out that a philosophical issue, as much as anything, may underlie the readiness to discredit the Big Bang on the basis of problematic Webb findings about galaxy formation:
“Many scientists, including Albert Einstein, have understandably found the Big Bang theory philosophically unpalatable. If the physical universe of matter, energy, space and time had a beginning – as observational astronomy and theoretical physics suggest – it’s hard to envision a physical cause for such an event. After all, it was matter and energy that first came into existence at the Big Bang. Before that, no matter or energy — no physics — would have yet existed that could have caused the universe to begin.” – Stephen Meyer, “Here’s Why James Webb Telescope Discoveries Are Causing Scientists to Rethink Galaxy Formation (But Not the Big Bang)” at DailyWire (September 22, 2022)”
As Meyer points out, the Big Bang has caused a number of scientists to conclude that there must be a Creator beyond the universe. But then, any beginning of the universe at all — or even of a succession of universes — raises the same question.
Takehome point: Such sudden, widespread cosmological doubt is bound to have a major cultural impact.
You may also wish to read: Re the Webb findings uproar: Who owns the Big Bang anyhow? Researcher and science writer Eric Lerner would never have attracted the attention he has in recent weeks if the Webb findings were not disturbing to many cosmologists. To avoid absurd “infinity” math, we just assume our universe has a beginning. But then the Webb shook up many details, creating distress and anger.
Who are all these scientists to whom Meyer refers?
Big Bang has been flawed for a while. There have been too many discoveries, thanks to Hubble, that disprove it. Anew theory is needed for the beginning of the universe, which must have a beginning due to the laws of physics demanding a beginning.
Just as there is nothing random about the laws, there is nothing random about the universe. There is a beautiful order that proves design with every new discovery.
Part of this is in #2 above
https://stephencmeyer.org/2022/09/27/heres-why-james-webb-telescope-discoveries-are-causing-scientists-to-rethink-galaxy-formation-but-not-the-big-bang/
Further to BobRyan at 3,
The term “Big Bang” was a term of derision which Fred Hoyle coined to mock the notion of a beginning to the universe.
In the following video, Dr. Singh presents a radio recording of Fred Hoyle, around 1951, calling the notion of a beginning to the universe as ‘The Big Bang’;
Fred Hoyle personally favored the ‘steady state’ model for the universe. Yet the steady state model was definitively refuted in 1964 with “the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 1964”,
As an aside, Fred Hoyle, because of fine-tuning, went from being a hard core atheist to eventually coming around to believing in Deism, perhaps even leaning ever so slightly towards Theism,
As Fred Hoyle himself stated, “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has “monkeyed” with the physics as well as the chemistry and biology, and there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.”
It is unfortunate that Hoyle’s derogatory term ‘Big Bang’ stuck in the public’s imagination. The term “Big Bang” really is a very flawed mental picture of what happened at the beginning of the universe.
As Bruce Gordon explains, “An explosion you think of as kind of a messy event.,,, The explosion in which our universe began was not a messy event. And if you talk about how messy it could have been, this is what the Penrose (1 in 10^10^123 initial entropy) calculation is all about essentially.”
Here is an article that goes into a bit more detail as to exactly why the the term “Big Bang” is a very flawed mental picture as to what actually happened at the beginning of the universe.
As mentioned previously, Fred Hoyle’s steady state model was definitively refuted in 1964 with “the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) in 1964”.
Moreover, besides refuting the steady state model, the CMBR, as more and more precise measurements have been made of the CMBR, has continued to produce evidence against atheistic, i.e. random/chaotic, models for the creation of the universe.
Specifically, the atheistic model of eternal chaotic inflation, postulated that “most of space could have been expanding eternally, thus removing the necessity of a beginning.”
,, Yet more precise recent measurements of the CMBR “all but ruled out several popular models of inflation” that atheists have appealed to in order to avoid a beginning for the universe.,
As Paul Steinhardt himself, one of the founders of inflation theory, himself stated, “If anything, the Planck data (from the CMBR) disfavored the simplest inflation models and exacerbated long-standing foundational problems with the theory, providing new reasons to consider competing ideas about the origin and evolution of the universe…”
And as Steinhardt noted elsewhere, these latest observations from the CMBR “is potentially a blow for the (inflation) theory, but that it pales in significance with inflation’s other problems.”
Moreover, besides all but ruling out several popular models of inflation, more precise measurements of the CMBR have gone even further and have revealed that the solar system, and the earth is particular, have far more significance in this universe than is presupposed by atheists,,
Specifically, more precise measurements of the CMBR have revealed “unexpected large scale anomalies”,
,,, And these ‘unexpected large scale anomalies’ found in the CMBR ‘surprisingly’ line up with the solar system and the earth.
Here is an excellent clip from “The Principle” that explains these ‘unexpected anomalies’ in the CMBR, that ‘surprisingly’ line up with the solar system and the earth, in an easy to understand manner.
Moreover, as the following paper highlights, we find that Radio Astronomy now reveals a surprising rotational coincidence for Earth in relation to the quasar and radio galaxy distributions in the universe, “implying an apparent breakdown of the Copernican principle or its more generalization, cosmological principle, upon which the standard cosmological model is based upon”,,,
And it is this ‘surprising rotational coincidence for Earth in relation to the quasar and radio galaxy distributions in the universe’, combined on top of the CMBR anomalies, which, amazingly, provide us with the proper coordinates in order to overturn the Copernican principle, and/or the ‘principle of mediocrity’,,, and which strongly support the ‘medieval’ Christian belief that the earth should be considered to have special significance in the universe.
As the following article, (with an illustration) explains, “The CMB dipole and quadrupole gives us the X axis and Y axis but not a Z axis. Hence, the X and Y axis of the CMB provide a direction, but only an approximate position.,,, For the Z-axis we depend on other information, such as quasars and galaxy alignment that the CMB cannot provide.”
Thus, directly contrary to the ‘mediocrity’ presumption of atheists, far from the anomalies in the CMBR, and the large scale structures of the universe, being a product of random quantum fluctuations, (as they had falsely presupposed within their inflation model), the small temperature variations in the CMBR, combined on top of the ‘largest scale structures of the observable universe’, reveal teleology, (i.e. a goal directed purpose, a plan, a reason), that specifically included the earth and the solar system from the very start of the creation of the universe itself.,,, The earth and solar system, (from what our best science can now tell us), is not just the result of some random quantum fluctuation as atheists had erroneously presupposed within their inflation model.
Of supplemental note: also see Michael Denton’s recent book, “The Miracle of Man: The Fine Tuning of Nature for Human Existence”;
“It is unfortunate that Hoyle’s derogatory term ‘Big Bang’ stuck in the public’s imagination. The term “Big Bang” really is a very flawed mental picture of what happened at the beginning of the universe.”
Look at the science textbooks most people grew up with. Look at TV shows about the creation of the universe. You have the Big Bang, complete with the visualization of an explosion plus sound! Whoever approved the textbooks I grew up with literally carved this image in stone. In the heads of a generation, or two, of young people.
No, it’s all wrong. Based on this new evidence and “we shouldn’t have so many galaxies in the ‘young’ universe”! Who the heck actually knows how many galaxies are out there? Why was Dark Matter created as a concept? The belief, based on what could be seen, that there was not enough matter in the universe. So, let’s arbitrarily fill up the ‘missing’ matter with Dark Matter. Seriously?
The Principle (2014) full documentary
It’s interesting but I have a problem believing anything that scientists say about the past of the Universe. They blew it big time with biological “evolution” so no more believing “the scientists” about long, long ago and far,far away.