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The John Batchelor Show

UNEXPEDICTED DARK MATTER DONUT HOLE IN THE MILKY WAY. 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

🗓️ 4 February 2024

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

UNEXPEDICTED DARK MATTER DONUT HOLE IN THE MILKY WAY. 4/4: Flashes of Creation: George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate, by Paul Halpern


https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/something-fishy-is-happening-with-the-milky-ways-dark-matter-halo/ar-BB1hs74y

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.

200 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9)

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is a

0:05.0

CBS I in the world. I'm John Bachelor with Professor Paul Halpern. His new book is Flashes of Creation, George Gamoff, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang debate.

0:15.9

We've now found evidence of the Big Bang, or the Big Squeeze, or the Creation Moment.

0:21.5

We also have better and better understanding of how long ago it

0:24.8

happened 13.8. The temperature of the Cosmos turns out to be I believe 3

0:30.8

degrees Calvin is that correct Paul 3?

0:33.0

Yeah more precisely about 2.73 degrees Kelvin but 3 was about what they came up with at that time.

0:40.0

And we follow Gama first because he's older and his health becomes a challenge to him in the

0:48.4

1960s. He will die in 1968. He's a smoker and he has troubles with alcohol.

0:55.0

However, before he passes away, he recognizes that his work has contributed to these discoveries. Is that correct, Paul?

1:05.0

Oh yes, he started writing to people, he wrote to people, he wrote to Dickey, and a student

1:11.2

Ralph Alfer also was writing continuously to them to try to get the record straight.

1:17.0

Because some of the calculations that were done by the Dickie and People's Group

1:22.0

essentially reproduced some of the work that Alfer and under the tutelage of Gamof had done in the 1940s.

1:31.6

So they were trying to bring attention to their earlier papers and at one

1:35.9

point Gamov went to a conference in New York and at the conference he made it made a statement if you lose a penny and then you later find a

1:47.1

penny it's still the same penny the same with my theories yes it's a wonderful

1:52.0

metaphor I'd like him Now, Fred Hoyle.

1:54.8

Fred Hoyle works with husband and wife, Margaret and Jeffrey Burbridge, and Wilson Fowler,

2:00.3

you've mentioned him earlier. William Fowler, you've mentioned him earlier.

2:05.0

You said that Hoyle's work pursues into the bodies of stars.

2:11.0

They come up with an explanation for elements heavier than iron.

...

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