Who thought up the theroy of the big bang?

Answer 1

In 1927, the Belgian priest Georges Lemaоtre was the first to propose that the universe began with the explosion of a primeval atom. His proposal came after observing the red shift in distant nebulas by astronomers to a model of the universe based on relativity. Years later, Edwin Hubble found experimental evidence to help justify Lemaоtre's theory. He found that distant galaxies in every direction are going away from us with speeds proportional to their distance.

The big bang was initially suggested because it explains why distant galaxies are traveling away from us at great speeds. The theory also predicts the existence of cosmic background radiation (the glow left over from the explosion itself). The Big Bang Theory received its strongest confirmation when this radiation was discovered in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who later won the Nobel Prize for this discovery.

Answer 2

Hi. Here is some good info. http://www.answers.com/big+bang?cat=technology&gwp=13
The words "Big Bang" were meant to be disparaging to the theory.

From the web: (Fred) Hoyle actually coined the name of Lemaître's theory, referring to it sarcastically as "this big bang idea" during a program broadcast on March 28 1949, by the BBC Third Programme. Hoyle repeated the term in further broadcasts in early 1950, as part of a series of five lectures entitled The Nature of Things. The text of each lecture was published in The Listener a week after the broadcast, the first time that the term "big bang" appeared in print.

Answer 3

Belgian physicist Georges LaMaitre proposed his "Hypothesis of the Primeval Atom" in 1927, which would become the basis for the Big Bang Theory. LaMaitre was attempting to apply Einstein's General Theory of Relativity to the problem of the origin of the universe. Physicist George Gamow became the chief developer and advocate for this theory.

In the 1940s, two main theories of the origin of the universe emerged. One was the Steady State Theory, advocated by Fred Hoyle, the other was Gamow's theory of an expanding universe based on LaMaitre's primeval atom. Ironically, it was Fred Hoyle who coinned the term "big bang" when jokingly refering to Gamow's model. The name stuck, and the Big Bang Theory became a household name. Later on, Fred Hoyle himself shelved the Steady State Theory, and became a leading advocate for the Big Bang, the theory which he originally ridiculed and named.

The Big Bang Theory describes and expanding universe, an idea originally proposed by LaMaitre. American Edwin Hubble's observations in the 1930s confirmed that the universe is expanding. George Gamow predicted the existence of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Radiation. But not until 1965 was this CMB discovered, and by accident. Two engineers at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey were testing an instrument they built to improve satellite communications. This device picked up a faint static in the frequency and temperature range predicted by Gamow. The confirmation of the CMB confirmed one the Big Bang Theory's chief predictions, and has led to a near universal acceptance in cosmology.

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Answer 4

In chronological order:
Le Maitre proposed that an expanding universe was a valid solution to the GR equations

Hubble put together the evidence that the universe really was expanding

Gamow worked out the consequences of a hot early universe

Penzius & Wilson (by accident) found the cosmic microwave background that confirmed Gamow's model.

So in order of importance, I'd credit
Gamow, Hubble, Le Maitre, and P&W.

Answer 5

The first one who really noticed it was Edwin Hubble, whom the telescope is named after. He discovered the 'red shift' of almost every galaxy in sight, and whlie discussing it with a grad student... who's name escapes me... said, "It's like looking at fragments of a bomb blast." I don't think he ever heard the term "Big Bang", but I could be wrong. The theory that *everything* started from a single point was only seriously posutlated in the 1950's, but it wasn't until the latter 1960's that it really took a foothold in science.

Answer 6

A bunch of people thought up the theory of the big bang. In reality though, they did not just think it up. Scientists and regular people saw evidence and eventually there was a theory that gravity pulled inwards in time and space- and here we are now. I think if you want to get names of specific scientists who proposed the theory to the public you should search for it. But it wont be accurate because many people studied on how the universe began and the beginning of time; and one person had the guts to propose the idea to the public