In this documentary Jim Al Khalili takes us back through 50 years of BBC archive footage to document the history of two competing theories for the beginning of the Universe. However only one of the theories said that the universe “started”; the big bang theory, the name of which was coined by scientist Fred Hoyle who ironically did not believe in the big bang at all. Fred Hoyle was a leading figurehead for the steady state theory which says that the universe has always existed and that its expansion is due to a constant creation of particles much like a Darwinian evolution.
What this documentary highlights is how massively the “common knowledge” of science can change in such a short period of time. A mere 50 years ago the idea of the big bang seemed almost too far fetched to be true, even Albert Einstein wanted to describe the universe without a “bang”. What will the human race know 50 years from now?
