• Question: is the big bang theory real ???

    Asked by Debbie.A. to Claire, Franco, Koi, Linda, Mark on 21 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Claire Bourke

      Claire Bourke answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      Hi Debbie,
      the big bang theory is a prediction for how our universe came about and the job of scientists is to gather evidence to try and prove or disprove the predictions that they come up with. In the case of the big bang theory, which is being explored by physicists, there is lots of evidence that it is the real explanation for how the universe was formed. For example, physicists use measurements of the wavelengths of light coming from far away galaxies, calculations of the relative amounts of different elements from the periodic table on planets and out in space and the amounts of background radiation in the universe to support the theory that the universe is expanding outwards from where ‘the big bang’ first occurred. I certainly don’t understand all of the equations and calculations involved as it is not my area of research, and it is difficult to prove for certain what may or may not have happened billions and billions of years ago, but I find the evidence in favour of the big bang theory quite convincing. I try to keep an open mind about such theories since, as physicists discover more about our universe, we get new information that may help to prove (or even disprove) theories. If you would like to find out more, there is a really enjoyable book written by the famous UK physicist Stephen Hawking called A Brief History of Time, which does a far better job of explaining things like the big bang, time and black holes than I can!

      If you mean is the TV programme ‘The Big Bang Theory’ real, then the answer is definitely not; we real-life scientists are far cooler than Sheldon and co 😉

    • Photo: Arporn Wangwiwatsin

      Arporn Wangwiwatsin answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      Hi Debbie. A,

      I am convinced that it is real but I’m not quite a master in physics so there could be counter-arguments that I missed out. What I like about science is that it is always open for discussion and I see that that as the way it move forward 🙂

    • Photo: Franco Falcone

      Franco Falcone answered on 21 Jun 2016:

      Hi Debbie

      this one is a bit outside my comfort zone but what I can say (I have just written a longer answer about the question ‘what is science’ elsewhere) is that the expression “this is just a theory” is not used by scientists, the words ‘just’ and ‘theory’ don’t mix together well, because a theory is the highest form of knowledge that scientists have, it is knowledge that is widely accepted, that gives a good explanation of an observed phenomenon, and which allows to make predictions which can be verified experimentally. For example, I am sure that you know about the theory of gravitation. This theory will predict that if you drop an apple which you hold in your hand, this object will fall to the ground, so it’s easy to verify ! As no one has been able to prove that apples (and any other fruit) do not fall to the ground (not counting things with wings or in space), with time this has been accepted as a theory. Other theories are the theory of atomic structure and the theory of evolution.

      And I guess that astronomers will count the big bang as a theory as well.
      Anything else in science is called a hypothesis. The important thing to understand is that in science, any claim has to be backed up by experimental evidence. You cannot make wild claims and have no evidence to support them. I mean you could, but then you would not be much of a scientists!

    • Photo: Mark Booth

      Mark Booth answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      Hi Debbie A

      All theories are real until they are proved or disproved. The curious aspect to the Big Bang Theory to me is not so much the idea that we came from some massive explosion but the fact that the theory starts with a massive explosion. I mean, isn’t that a bit mind-blowing in itself? What were the events that led to all of a sudden the universe creating itself into (pre-existing?) space-time? What led to all that matter being concentrated into such a small volume that the force of the explosion led to a universe that is still expanding several billion years later. And if my recall of watching too many Horizon programmes is correct, the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate – which is also a bit weird.

      The reason why the Big Bang theory still holds is because no-one has come up with a competing theory that better fits the data. It might happen one day but probably only after some new fundamental discovery about the nature of matter or anti-matter or dark-matter or sub-atomic particles or strings.

      Happy theorising!

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