Major Thinkers

According to Francis Collins, "scientists have a streak of closeted anarchism...," (Collins, 82). It first started with Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler who had strong opinions on the universe that did not neccessarily appeal to the church. Due to the church not being compatible, the church opposed and set the theorists beliefs aside.Through their anarchism, they hope that they will prove their scientific theories and achieve a "synthesis between science and faith," (Collins, 83). This may be a theory itself on what drives the Big Bang theory in scientists.

The curiosity of what wraps around our atmosphere; known as space, has intrigued man since the age of time. One of these men created the term gravity and explored it due to his curiosity of why the moon orbits around the earth; Sir Isaac Newton. "For nearly 300 years Newtons theory of the universal gravitation served as the basis for almost all of astronomy," (Scientific American, The End of Cosmology). His curiosity began when he was sitting underneath an apple tree and an apple fell on his head. As did the earth pull the apple towards the ground, the Earth's gravity pulled the moon to orbit the Earth. Through equations and time, Newton realized that "Gravity governed not only the moon but all planets," (Fox, 33). As does gravity apply to our planet, it does so to the universe, known as universal gravitation. "If everything is attracted to everything else, then planets and stars and the earth should be constantly in erratic motion, constantly pulled one way or another," (Fox, 34). Through this, Newton based a theory that the universe is infinite, pulling in all equal directions. Due to Newtons exploration with gravity and the universe not being static, it lead to the theory of inflation helped by Einsteins relativity theory.

Based off of Newton's discoveries with gravity, it made Einstein question gravity more and in detail. Einstein made up equations of the universe to help solve whether the universe was static or not; ultimately finding out whether the universe is expanding or not. This was done so with the General Relativity presented in 1917. Through General Relativity, "he realized there is no "absolute space" or absolute time," (Fox, 41). Through his equations and findings from the theory of general relativity, he found that at one point there was no universe; meaning it did have a starting point and from then on it has expanded.

When Einsteins theory came to life, it was easily accepted in the community. However, one man did not just accept it, he applied it. Georges Lemaitre was a Belgian priest who studied engineering, physics, and math. Inspired by Einsteins theory he formed his own theory. "He arrived at a single point in space and time when everything, every atom, every photon, every bit of energy, was coalesced into a single pot. All of matter, claimed Lemaitre, was once squashed down into a "primeval atom."Fror, this amazingly dense first particle sprang our entire universe," (Fox, 46-47). Based off of his math and einstein's general relativity theory and equations, the conclusion seemed correct, but it seemed abstract to other scientists. Father Lemaitre has been viewed as the "Father of the Big Bang" theory due to Einsteins and Friedman's explorations with gravity and the universe.

After WWII, the scientist Gamow came into light when he decided to explore the theory of an infant universe and the nature of the big bang. To come to conclusions, he studied einstein and freidman works. "Gamow was one of the earliest nuclear scientists and was well respected for his understanding of the atom," (Fox, 57). He connected the links that since the universe came from one single atom, then what exists today had to have come form that single atom. In order for that one atom to explode and expand, he came to the conclusion that that atom had to be HOT and static to explode. After the explosion, it is said that the atom expanded to the full length of the universe. To help support his theories of the expansion, in 1965, scientists, Gamow, and his students that once the big bang occured, radiation was given off, however, there was no evidence for that.

That day came when Arno and Penzias, two astronomers, found that radiation through a built antenia produced by them. That radiation was from the glow in the universe.

Though Gamow presented this to the science community and was ignored, religion did not ignore it. After Gamow completed his theories, he addressed Pope Pius XII with them in 1951. Due to the science showing that the universe had a creation/creator, Pope Pius XII accepted the big bang as a theory, linking religion and science together.