how can the big bang be a proven theory when noone was there to see it happen?

Answer 1

In science, there are no "proven theories". A scientific theory can be "well established" if there is a lot of evidence for it, and little or no evidence against it. The "Big Bang" theory is now well established. Most people think it explains a lot of observations much better than any rival theory. Here are some of the astronomical observations that the "Big Bang" theory explains:

1) The expansion of the Universe, where galaxies that are further away are moving away faster than nearby galaxies.

2) The amount of Helium and Duterium relative to Hydrogen and the other elements.

3) The time evolution of galaxies, quasars, and radio galaxies.

4) The "Cosmic Background Radiation" at radio frequencies.

5) The brightness and time evolution of supernovas in distant galaxies.

The "Big Bang" theory is central to modern astronomy, because it is needed to make sense of almost all astronomical observations of distant objects.

Answer 2

It is not a proven theory it is just a theory.
It is just the best theory we have at the moment. By best theory, we mean the one that best fits the known facts.
Many events take place without witnesses, but witnesses are not necessarily reliable, anyway.
By definition, no one could be there to see the start of the Universe. Scientists have found that the Universe is expanding and by extrapolating back in time, they have assumed that at some point in the distant past, everything was contained in a space so small that it is beyond description/explanation. This is what is known as the singularity, and from this the expansion began, at a point when time began. This is called the big bang. There was of course no bang, and no ears to hear it if there had been.
Assuming that the theory is true, Scientists have made predictions. Those that have so far been possible to verify, have been found to be accurate. This does not, of course, prove the theory to be true, but it does support the theory. One prediction discovered to be false, would throw doubt on the theory, or the scientific processes by which the prediction was made. It would require investigation and explaining.

Answer 3

I cringe every time I hear some moron saying "It is just a theory". Apparently many people on here do not know the definition of Theory in science. A theory is "a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena" [Random House American College Dictionary]. The term does not imply tentativeness or lack of certainty. For instance Human Sexual Reproduction is the theory that explains where babies come from.
Yet these same morons never try to argue that babies don't result from sex, because it is "JUST A THEORY". Well maybe they do, since many of them believe in a 2000 year old Virgin birth.

On the other hand Proof is something you do in Logic or Mathematics, not in the real world.

That said The Big Bang Model has tons of supporting evidence. And in the future we will be able to gather a great deal more. We do actually see radiation from about 300,000 years after the big bang. And this provides a great deal of the evidence we have,

Answer 4

The big bang did exist and nowadays the scientists are
trying to prove a a double or triple big bang. Even Hawking
is accepting the theory of a double. Anyway, that is besides
the point of your question. The theory is reached by measuring
distances (in light years) directions, gravitational forces stemming
from a point that cannot be seen, heard nor fully measured.
The conclusion, at the present point of time, is that the Universe
is 380billion light years in size and may still be expanding. Also
that the better part of the Universe is composed of dark matter
and that it is a huge tug-of-war between which matter swallows
the other. This is an enormous subject and I will leave my answer
"as is" otherwise we have to discuss centrifugal forces, anti matter
and eliminate time for starters! If we do, all of the above could be
nonsense!

Answer 5

When a theory is proven it becomes a fact. Big bang theory is not big bang fact. It may become possible in the future to compute a model of the universe backwards from that point in time and prove the theory a fact. However to compute a model that starts at the big bang and eventually leads to the universe as we know it would mean having to calculate an infinite number of probabilities, this of course would be impossible.

Answer 6

"proven theory" is an oxymoron (spelling?). It will be the established theory until a better theory comes along, or it is disproved by new information.

We can see the after-glow through telescopes and gain a lot of information from that. Because it takes light so long to get here we are, in a way, looking back in time. I don't claim to understand it all, but I trust the ones who study it for a living.

Answer 7

There is really no such thing as a "proven" theory. A theory is simply an explanation which at the present time seems to fit all the known facts and which has by experimentation been apparently proved to work. This does not however mean that it is fact. Newton's theories worked for centuries and in fact the mathematics are still accurate enough for NASA to use them, but Einstein's theories superceded them. The instruments necessary to test Newton well enough just did not exist for a long time. Now new theories seem to be superceding Einstein too.

Answer 8

Do the police not prosecute someone for murder because all they have is a corpse, and a mass of finger-prints and a ton of forensic evidence? Would the courts take seriously a defence plea of not guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence, on grounds that non-one actually witnessed the suspect commit the murder?

Ever heard of the concept of "proof beyond a reasonable doubt"!? If it is good enough to satsfy the law of the land, why isn't it good enough to satisfy the Creationists?

The problem with the empiricist position is that it denies the possibility of inference, deduction and reconstruction by its absurd emphasis on the only thing that is real is what we experience with our five senses.

This question is just more Creationist propaganda designed to undermine widely-accepted scientific ideas and create confusion, compared to which the Creationists can then offer people the certainty of dogma.

Please realise how you are being manipulated and why this non-stop stream of propaganda is being unleashed on us.

Answer 9

Big Bang is not proven, theory or otherwise -it will only ever be an idea. It just happens to be the best idea they can come up with at the moment, and it's great attraction is that it has a catchy name. Ditto current thinking on quasars.

Answer 10

You're right. It's just a theory. The following may be of interest to you. If you were to determine the speed of a falling object at the 0.716 mile location from the center of our planet, you would find that it would be accelerating faster than the speed of light in one second. In our sun the distance is 400 miles from its center. What this means is, were black holes possible they would already exist within our own planet, and especially in our sun. What's up? http://360.yahoo.com/noddarc there is a writing "The Problem and Repair of Relativity" It is a few pages long and easy to read. Give it a shot.