The new book on the Big Bang that Roger Penrose praises

Many widely read science writers of our time incorrectly attribute the concepts of the expanding universe and the Big Bang to Edwin Hubble and Albert Einstein. Hubble did provide evidence for an expanding universe, but he did not discover such evidence or accept the radical idea that space itself was expanding. As for Einstein, he protested the idea of ​​an expanding universe for more than a decade, and stopped working in the field as soon as he had to revise his view. The real heroes of the Big Bang revolution are the Russian Alexander Friedmann and the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître. It is one thing that they are virtually unknown to the general public. That their contribution is underestimated by astrophysicists and cosmologists is another, because the concepts they promulgated are among the most remarkable achievements of 20th century science.

The Big Bang Revolutionaries:The untold story of three scientists who re-enchanted cosmology (Discovery Institute Press), by Jean-Pierre Luminet, changes the account and tells the remarkable story of how these two men, along with the mischievous George Gamow and despite conventional scientific wisdom, offered a compelling picture of an extraordinary creation of the universe in what Lemaître called a ‘primeval atom’. The book has received phenomenal praise before its publication, including from three Nobel Prize winners. See below.

Jean-Pierre Luminet (pictured above), a French astrophysicist specializing in black holes and cosmology, is research director emeritus at the French National Center for Scientific Research. He is a member of the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM) and Laboratoire Univers et Théories (LUTH) of the Paris-Meudon Observatory. Luminet has won several awards. These include the Georges Lemaître Prize (1999) for his work in cosmology, the UNESCO Kalinga Prize (2021) and the Einstein Medal for the Popularization of Science (2021). He has published more than twenty scholarly books, eight historical novels, and eight collections of poetry. The asteroid 5523 Luminet was named after him.

Praise in advance

This excellent and well-illustrated book convincingly portrays Friedmann and Lemaître’s major original contributions in the early 20th century revolution in our understanding of the large-scale physical universe.

–ROGER PENROSEEMERITUS ROUSE BALL PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS AT THE MATHEMATICAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, EMERITUS FELLOW OF WADHAM COLLEGE IN OXFORD, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, AND RECIPIENT OF THE WOLF PRIZE (1988) AND THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS (2020)

The author brings together many aspects of thinking about the large-scale nature of our world from the point of view of concepts, theory, observation and culture. The story begins with Albert Einstein’s thought that a philosophically satisfying universe knows no boundaries, a bold conjecture that turned out to fit well with Einstein’s new theory of gravity and now matches the observational evidence. You will find fascinating details of the evolution of ideas, evidence and the cultural situation between that time and the first steps by which George Gamow’s brilliant intuition led him to realize that an even better view of our universe is that it was expanding from a hot atmosphere. closed state.

–JIM PEEBLESTHE ALBERT EINSTEIN PROFESSOR OF SCIENCE, EMERITUS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, AND RECIPIENT OF THE 2019 NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS

It is rare to find an internationally leading astrophysicist who is also a searching and meticulous historian. It is even rarer to find such a person who is also a gifted prose stylist. Jean-Pierre Luminet is such a person. The Big Bang Revolutionaries is invaluable to anyone fascinated by the history of the big ideas that shaped and reshaped Western science and civilization, and to anyone who wants a front-row seat to witness the all-too-common nature of the scientific revolution – messy, full of unexpected twists and turns, and not without victims. In the present case, and as Luminet dramatically shows, the revolution occurred despite persistent prejudices from some of the best minds in physics and astronomy. As for the broader implications of the Big Bang revolution, Luminet leaves these for the reader to ponder.

–STEPHEN C. MEYERDIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND CULTURE AND AUTHOR OF SIGNATURE IN THE CELLLITERARY SUPPLEMENT NOMINATED AS BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES (OF LONDON), RETURN OF THE GOD HYPOTHESISAND THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER DARWIN’S DOUBTS

The 20th century represents an exceptional period in the study of the cosmos. But this century will be remembered primarily as the century in which physics first made it possible to study the universe and its evolution. Jean-Pierre Luminet, an eminent cosmologist, plays the role of historian in this analysis of the rise of ideas, paying tribute to the physicists who contributed to this dazzling scientific adventure.

–MICHEL MAYOR, SWISS ASTROPHYSIST AND PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA; RECIPIENT OF THE VIKTOR AMBARTSUMIAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE (2010), THE KYOTO PRIZE (2015) AND THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS (2019)

An inspiring overview of the history and physics of our modern view of the universe by the brilliant scientist Jean-Pierre Luminet, who was the first to simulate the silhouettes of black holes. The reader is introduced to the scientific insights that revolutionized the perception of our cosmic roots and future. A fascinating read!

–ABRAHAM (AVI) LOEB, FRANK B. BAIRD JR. PROFESSOR OF SCIENCE AND DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF THEORY & COMPUTATION, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, AND DIRECTOR OF THE BREAKTHROUGH INITIATIVES OF THE BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE FOUNDATION

This book is a very careful review of the work of three lesser-known key figures who laid the foundation for modern cosmology: Alexander Friedmann, Georges Lemaître, and George Gamow. It does a great service to detail the contributions each of them has made to the subject. I especially appreciate the discussion of the pioneering work and personality of Lemaître, who can rightly be called the father of scientific cosmology. Because the book also discusses cosmic topology, it is a unique contribution to the history of cosmology.

–GEORGE ELLISEMERITUS DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN, CO-AUTHOR WITH STEPHEN HAWKING VAN THE LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE OF SPACE-TIMEFORMER PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY IN THE FIELD OF GENERAL RELATIVITY AND GRAVITY, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, RECIPIENT OF THE TEMPLETON PRIZE AND THE GEORGES LEMAÎTRE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

The Big Bang Revolutionaries is a great book. And one, I would add, is historically important because it restores to their rightful place two fascinating figures that the standard history of physics in the twentieth century has shamefully neglected. Bright? Of course it is clear. Luminet is an excellent astrophysicist. Moving? In large measure, not only because of what it says about Friedmann and Lemaître, but also because of what it reveals about the author’s sensitive intelligence in encountering the story of men whose prominent positions were denied them. All in all it is a beautiful restoration – something very French, I might add, in that it describes men who should have been monarchs regaining their thrones.

–DAVID BERLINSKISENIOR FELLOW OF THE CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND CULTURE, AND AUTHOR OF A GUIDED TOUR OF THE CALCULUS, THE ADVENT OF THE ALGORITHM, NEWTON’S GIFT, THE DEVIL’S MADNESS: ATHEISM AND ITS SCIENTIFIC PRETENSIONSAND SCIENCE AFTER BABEL

Finally a book that pays tribute to the great cosmological revolution of the 20th century where it is due: the Russian Alexander Friedmann and the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître.

–CARLO ROVELLIFOUNDER OF THE QUANTUM GRAVITY GROUP OF THE CENTER DE PHYSIQUE THÉORIQUE (CPT), UNIVERSITY OF AIX-MARSEILLE, AND AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING SEVEN SHORT LESSONS ON PHYSICS

The Big Bang theory has become a popular topic, but who knows the scientists who first proposed the outrageous concept that our entire universe started as an ultra-dense fireball? Theoretical physicist Jean-Pierre Luminet, known for his groundbreaking work in the field of black hole visualization, takes the reader on an educational and historically accurate tour of the conceptual vistas opened up by the inventors of the Big Bang theory, namely: the Russian mathematician (and meteorologist) Alexander Friedmann, Belgian cosmologist (and priest) Georges Lemaître, and, last but not least, the eclectic genius physicist George Gamow. A must-read for anyone eager to understand one of the most important scientific breakthroughs in physics of the 20th century.

–THIBAULT DAMOURINSTITUT DES HAUTES ÉTUDES SCIENTIFIQUES, RECIPIENT OF THE EINSTEIN MEDAL, THE GALILEO GALILEI MEDAL AND THE BALZAN PRIZE

Cross-posted on Evolution News.