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The John Batchelor Show

4/4: James Webb Space Telescope indicates that the doubts of the origins grow: 4/4: Flashes of Creation: George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate, by Paul Halpern

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, Arts, News, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2023

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

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4/4: James Webb Space Telescope indicates that the doubts of the origins grow: 4/4: Flashes of Creation: George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate, by Paul Halpern

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PV5CLZQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

A respected physics professor and author breaks down the great debate over the Big Bang and the continuing quest to understand the fate of the universe. Today, the Big Bang is so entrenched in our understanding of the cosmos that to doubt it would seem crazy. But as Paul Halpern shows in Flashes of Creation, just decades ago its mere mention caused sparks to fly. At the center of the debate were the Russian-American physicist George Gamow and the British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. Gamow insisted that a fiery explosion explained how the elements of the universe were created. Attacking the idea as half-baked, Hoyle countered that the universe was engaged in a never-ending process of creation. The battle was fierce. In the end, Gamow turned out to be right—mostly—and Hoyle, along with his many achievements, is remembered for giving the theory the silliest possible name: "the Big Bang." Halpern captures the brilliance of both thinkers and reminds us that even those proven wrong have much to teach us about boldness, imagination, and the universe, itself.

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:56.4

The temperature of the cosmos turns out to be...

1:00.6

I believe three degrees Kelvin, is that correct Paul three?

1:04.5

Yeah, more precisely about 2.73 degrees Kelvin,

1:07.9

but three was about what they came up with at that turn.

1:10.9

And we follow Gamma first because he's older,

1:14.6

and his health becomes a challenge to him in the 1960s.

1:19.6

He will die in 1968.

1:21.9

He's a smoker and he has troubles with alcohol.

1:25.4

However, before he passes away,

1:28.4

he recognizes that his work has contributed to these discoveries.

1:33.3

Is that correct Paul?

1:35.4

Oh yes, he started writing to people.

1:38.7

He wrote to Peoples, he wrote to Dickie,

...

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