Page 26 - Timelessness and the Reality of Fate

24 TIMELESSNESS AND THE REALITY OF FATE

Confronted by such evidence, the Big Bang gained the near-complete
approval of the scientific world. In an article in its October 1994 issue, Scien-
tific American noted that the Big Bang model was the only one that could
account for the constant expansion of the universe and for other observa-
tional results.
Defending the steady-state theory alongside Fred Hoyle for years,
British scientist Dennis Sciama described the final position they had reached
after all the evidence for the Big Bang theory was revealed. Sciama stated
that he had taken part in the heated debate between the defenders of the
steady-state theory and those who tested that theory with the hope of refut-
ing it. He added that he had defended the steady-state theory, not because
he deemed it valid, but because he wished that it were valid. Fred Hoyle
stood out against all objections as evidence against this theory began to
unfold. Sciama goes on to say that he had first taken a stand along with
Hoyle but, as evidence began to pile up, he had had to admit that the game
was over and that the steady-state theory had to be dismissed. 16
Further confirmation of the data obtained by the COBE came from
other, subsequent studies. One such was the result obtained in 2000 from an
observation balloon known as BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations of Mil-
limetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics), launched at the end of
1998. Loaded with sensitive equipment and traveling 37,000 meters (120,000
feet) above the Antarctic, the balloon made it possible to obtain extremely
detailed and clear data regarding cosmic background radiation. The equip-
ment on BOOMERANG was sufficiently sensitive to detect tiny temperature
variations-only 100-millionths of a degree Celsius. The results obtained once
again verified the truth of the Big Bang and allowed scientists to obtain
more detailed information about the earliest days of the universe. One of the
scientists who analyzed the data from BOOMERANG that confirmed the
Big Bang, Michael Turner of the University of Chicago, says:
The big bang framework and Einstein's general relativity have passed a
major new test. 17

The Big Bang's Victory

All of this compelling evidence caused the Big Bang theory to be
embraced by the scientific community. The Big Bang model is the latest posi-
tion reached by science on the formation and beginning of the universe.