Who invented the idea of the big bang?
I believe an ordained priest (and WWI veteran) named Georges Lematre is attributed with proposing the idea in 1927, under the name "hypothesis of the primeval atom". His proposal came after observing the red shift in distant nebulas by astronomers to a model of the universe based on relativity.
Some info on him can be found at:
Bad title - Wikipedia
Here's irony for you:
"This proposal caused a sharp reaction from the scientific community of the time. Eddington found Lemaitre's notion unpleasant. As for Einstein, he found it suspect, because, according to him, it was too strongly reminiscent of the Christian dogma of creation and was unjustifiable from a physical point of view. The debate between cosmology and religion took the form of a polemic that would last several decades. In this debate, Lematre would be a fundamental actor who unceasingly tried to separate science from faith."
Seems like now-a-days it's the other way around.
It continues:
"However, in January 1933, Lemaitre and Einstein, who had met on several occasions - in 1927 in Brussels, at the time of a Solvay congress, in 1932 in Belgium, at the time of a cycle of conferences in Brussels and lastly in 1935 at Princeton - traveled together to California for a series of seminars. After the Belgian detailed his theory, Einstein stood up, applauded, and said, "This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened"."
[This message has been edited by Garf, 04-21-2004]
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