• Question: Do you believe in the big bang?

    Asked by kw28 to Andrew, Emma, Marianne on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hi kw28,

      The Big Bang theory is a a great theory – it makes a lot of sense, and leads to predictions that can and have been tested. I think that it is a reasonable theory of how the universe started, until something better comes along 🙂

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      We’ve done this one too. can you find the answer on the site?

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      I think ‘Do you believe in…’ isn’t the best way to think about scientific questions.
      Belief isn’t what science is about – it’s, what’s the most logical conclusion, based on the evidence?

      So, I think that, based on what physicists have discovered, big bang theory is the best explanation of the beginning of the universe that we currently have.
      The LHC work, for example, is looking at what happened just tiny, tiny fractions of a second after it; it’s not a question of did it happen, we know everything expanded out from a point, but we’re ironing out the details (or the physicists are, anyway!!).

      It’s fascinating and mind-boggling, but including simple observations like redshift that suggested the universe is expanding (and has since been confirmed), the evidence for well-established theories is very solid – that’s why they become well-established!

      If the evidence doesn’t fit the current conclusion, you have to change your conclusion. So far the evidence for the big bang keeps piling up!

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hi kw28! Yes I do, but I think that is because my Dad was a Scientist and so he used to talk about it a lot and therefore I sort of grew up and accepted the theory from quite a young age:).

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