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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
 Posted - 08/22/2001 : 17:54:52
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Sir Fred Hoyle, nemesis of the Big Bang Theory (which he derisively named) died today, according to a short report on the public radio station near my abode.
Sir Fred's name, *Big Bang* has stuck and will live on after him.
However, without Sir Fred Hoyle, we might not have learned about what powers the Sun (and stars). Therefore, in spite of his failed *Steady State* ideas about the Universe's expanding slowly and being filled in with new material inbetween the galaxies as it spreads out, he will be remembered for the ideas he has left which increased our knowledge tremendously.
So, remember, every time you read or hear about *crank* theories, some of the theories by those same *cranks* can be excellent and deserving of lasting fame. So, while Fred's Steady State Theory (which has been demolished by the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation [CMBR], the BOOMERanG [balloon] experiment, and the MAXIMA [balloon] experiment) will live on as a famous failed theory, Sir Fred's solar and stellar astrophysics will go down in scientific history among the great ideas of all time.
Let's hear it for Sir Fred and for his nemesis *The Big Bang*. They will be linked forever.
ljbrs 
Perfection Is a State of Growth...
Edited by - ljbrs on 08/22/2001 19:28:24
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Zandermann
Skeptic Friend
USA
431 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2001 : 18:13:17 [Permalink]
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He'll also be remembered for a few good sci-fi works.
October the First Is Too Late springs to mind.
"If in the last few years you haven't discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead." |
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Dog_Ed
Skeptic Friend
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2001 : 23:09:28 [Permalink]
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::applause::
Sir Fred's skepticism about the Big Bang theory will remain an inspiration because he was *not* ill-informed or crankish; to the contrary, he constructed plausible alternatives that could be taken seriously. I think he was incorrect, but he argued his case honorably and with intelligence. A fine skeptic and a great man.
"Even Einstein put his foot in it sometimes" |
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seb
New Member
France
40 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2001 : 02:34:45 [Permalink]
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ljbrs, it seems that you were faster than me on this board  .
For the BA board I had an advantage you were sleeping while I read the news.
Dog_Ed wrote:
quote:
I think he was incorrect, but he argued his case honorably and with intelligence. A fine skeptic and a great man.
Check on the BA board for more information (they know this better than me), but BigBang theories are not so solid.
Zandermann wrote:
quote:
He'll also be remembered for a few good sci-fi works.
The interesting part is that you can feel in the books he wrote that he is an astronomer. But even if he was classified in hard science fiction category I did not find it so difficult to read. His ideas were originals.
Seb |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2001 : 18:10:58 [Permalink]
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I work what amounts a ten-hour day (including travel), so I do not get to the BABB until quite late, EDT.
Fred did make a great contribution in that he figured out how the Sun was powered ahead of all of the others. Ordinary combustion would not permit the stars to shine for any real length of time, not long enough for the simplest forms of life to form. So, Sir Fred actually had at least one great theory. Sadly, the CMBR knocked out his Steady State theory permanently and the BOOMERanG and MAXIMA experiments finished off the job. Poor Sir Fred! Oh, well, most of us do not even have one great find to tack onto our list of accomplishments. Sir Fred had his great stellar theory. Of course, others like Dr. Hans Bethe went further in stellar theory.
ljbrs  Bravissimo, Sir Fred!
Perfection Is a State of Growth... |
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Tokyodreamer
SFN Regular
USA
1447 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2001 : 18:23:01 [Permalink]
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quote:
Sadly, the CMBR knocked out his Steady State theory permanently...
From the link you posted earlier to an article on Internet Infidels, it seems that a growing number of physicists (or at least a few well known ones!) disagree. What's your take on that?
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Ma gavte la nata! |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2001 : 19:38:19 [Permalink]
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quote:
From the link you posted earlier to an article on Internet Infidels, it seems that a growing number of physicists (or at least a few well known ones!) disagree. What's your take on that?
The dissenting steady-state astrophysicists (while well-known) are all as wrong as Fred Hoyle was on the subject of the Big Bang. The CMBR (Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation) plus the BOOMERanG and MAXIMA balloon flight observations have done away with the steady state theory completely. Of course, the accelerating universe (calculated using cosmological tools such as Type 1a supernovae and redshift) is not about to go away soon.
Peer review has not been kind to the steady staters, but they are still sticking to their theories. However, I will give credit to other theories and ideas (outside of the steady state theory) which some of the steady staters might have done in astrophysics. Fred Hoyle's theories of the sun were undeniably excellent, and solar astrophysics developed from his ideas.
Nobody's perfect...
ljbrs (a/k/a neutrino on Internet Infidels)
Perfection Is a State of Growth... |
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comradebillyboy
Skeptic Friend
USA
188 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2001 : 16:57:43 [Permalink]
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from george gamow's cosmic opera as presented in Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland (1940)
"your days of toil,"
Said Ryle to Hoyle,
"are wasted please believe me.
The steady state is out of date
unless my eyes decieve me.
"My telescope
has dashed your hope;
your tenets are refuted.
Let me be terse,
our universe
grows daily more diluted".
comrade billyboy |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2001 : 19:02:49 [Permalink]
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comradebillyboy:
That is just wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to find it.
ljbrs
Perfection Is a State of Growth... |
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Dog_Ed
Skeptic Friend
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2001 : 16:20:11 [Permalink]
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comradebillyboy: lol! Magnifico! Encore, encore!
"Even Einstein put his foot in it sometimes" |
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