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18 - Motivations

Who’s afraid of the Big (Bad) Bang?

from Part V - Radical unorthodoxies: The CMB without the Big Bang

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2024

Slobodan Perovic
Affiliation:
University of Belgrade
Milan M. Cirkovic
Affiliation:
Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, Serbia
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Summary

Keywords: The steady-state theory of Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle of the late 1940s was very much alive at the time of the CMB discovery, and the discovery prompted new variants and reformulations. The chapter argues that the theory was motivated by the fear of the untenable changing of physical laws that the evolving universe enabled. This fear resulted in adherence to a “perfect cosmological principle” ensuring the homogeneity and isotropy of the universe at all times. Bondi and Gold’s version was a theoretical framework within Newtonian universes, while Hoyle’s was developed within the General Theory of Relativity without cosmic constant while introducing a universal scalar for (constant) creation of matter. The theory faced observational obstacles (especially with the newly discovered quasars), and thus required reworking. Reworking continued after the 1965 discovery of the CMB. Other radical unorthodoxies like plasma cosmologies and the closed stationary state cosmological model were not as original, but they too have a place – they ensure we understand that current rebels against allegedly outlandish inflationary cosmology had earlier counterparts.

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The Cosmic Microwave Background
Historical and Philosophical Lessons
, pp. 105 - 107
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Motivations
  • Slobodan Perovic, University of Belgrade, Milan M. Cirkovic, Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, Serbia
  • Book: The Cosmic Microwave Background
  • Online publication: 09 July 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108951968.024
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  • Motivations
  • Slobodan Perovic, University of Belgrade, Milan M. Cirkovic, Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, Serbia
  • Book: The Cosmic Microwave Background
  • Online publication: 09 July 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108951968.024
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Motivations
  • Slobodan Perovic, University of Belgrade, Milan M. Cirkovic, Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, Serbia
  • Book: The Cosmic Microwave Background
  • Online publication: 09 July 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108951968.024
Available formats
×