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The idea that the universe had a beginning was first suggested
by the general theory of relativity, completed by Albert Einstein in 1916.
Einstein's equations, which describe the structure of space and time, suggested
that the universe should not be static, but that it ought to be expanding. Both
Einstein and other physicists realized this consequence of the theory fairly
early on, but at the time most scientists believed wholeheartedly that the
universe was static. Einstein himself was so swayed by this idea that rather
than accept his equations at face value, he added and extra (and extraneous)
term to this formulae to still the cosmic motion they implied. Later, when it
was discovered that the universe was indeed expanding, Einstein called this
"the greatest blunder of my life". He had missed the chance to make
what would surely have been one of the most spectacular predictions in the
history of science.
One of the very first people to take seriously the idea of an
expanding universe, and hence the idea of a cosmic origin, was the Belgian
priest Father George Lemaitre. An early relativity physicist, Lemaitre suggested
that the universe began with what he called a "cosmic atom". In his
cosmic evolutionary scenario, this superatom then broke apart, gradually forming
all the atoms and particles that make up the universe today. Physicists have
since rejected Lemaitre's cosmic atom, but they have embraced his idea of a
universe that began as a tiny dense point which expanded outward to produce the
vast structure we see today. Father Lemaitre had an illustrious career as a
cosmologist, and for many years was head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences,
situated in the elegant grounds of the Vatican.
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| Contributed by: Margaret Wertheim
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