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[[Image:big-bang-never-happened.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Lerner's 1991 book, ''The Big Bang Never Happened'']] |
[[Image:big-bang-never-happened.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Lerner's 1991 book, ''The Big Bang Never Happened'']] |
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''The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe'' (1991) is Lerner's controversial book rejecting mainstream Big Bang cosmology and advancing instead a [[nonstandard cosmology|non-standard]] ''[[plasma cosmology]]'' originally proposed by [[Hannes Alfvén]], winner of the 1970 [[Nobel Prize for Physics]], in the 1960s. |
''The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe'' (1991) is Lerner's controversial book rejecting mainstream Big Bang cosmology and advancing instead a [[nonstandard cosmology|non-standard]] ''[[plasma cosmology]]'' originally proposed by [[Hannes Alfvén]], winner of the 1970 [[Nobel Prize for Physics]], in the 1960s. The book appeared at a time when results from the [[Cosmic Background Explorer]] satellite were of some concern to astrophysicists who expected to see [[Cosmic microwave background anisotropies]] but instead measured a perfect [[blackbody]] spectrum with no variation across the sky. Lerner referred to this as evidence that the Big Bang was a failed paradigm. He also denigrated the [[dark matter#Observational evidence|observational evidence for dark matter]]<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 13</ref> and a recounting of a well known cosmological feature that [[supercluster]]s are larger than the largest [[virial theorem|virialized]] structures that have formed in the [[age of the universe]],<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 12</ref> |
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Each of these critiques have been repudiated by mainstream cosmologists who have directly criticized Lerner for making errors of fact and interpretation.<ref name=Wright>[[Edward L. Wright|Wright, Edward L.]] "''[http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/lerner_errors.html Errors in "The Big Bang Never Happened"]</ref> For example, the size of superclusters is a feature that has been limited by subsequent observations to the [[end of greatness]] and explained in the astronomical journals as arising from a [[power spectrum]] of density fluctuations growing from the [[quantum fluctuation]]s predicted in [[cosmic inflation|inflationary models]]. Additionally, the anisotropies were discovered in subsequent analysis of the both COBE and [[BOOMERanG]] experimens and were fully characterized by the [[Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe]]. |
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As an alternative, Lerner adopted that [[Hannes Alfven]]'s model of [[plasma cosmology]] which relied on [[plasma physics]] to explain most, if not all, cosmological observations using appeals to [[electromagnetic force]]s.<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 14</ref> Adopting an eternal universe, Lerner's explanation of observed cosmological evolution relied on a proposed a model of [[thermodynamics]] attributed in part to the work of [[Ilya Prigogine]] under which the universe has no definite age<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", footnote on page 388</ref> but continually increases in order in defiance of the [[second law of thermodynamics]].<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", pages 286-316</ref> Lerner also criticized modern cosmology as being equivalent to the [[Deferent_and_epicycle#Epicycles_on_epicycles|epicycle after epicycle]] complexities of [[Ptolemaic astronomy]].<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 54</ref> |
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<blockquote>The phenomena that the Big Bang seeks to explain with a mysterious ancient catacylsm, plasma theories attribute to electrical and magnetic processes occurring in the universe today.<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 14</ref></blockquote> |
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⚫ | While there was favorable reaction from non-experts to Lerner's book,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/067974049X | title = Editorial Reviews | work = Amazon.com }}</ref> cosmologists who have commented on the book have generally criticized it harshly. In particular, [[Edward L. Wright]], who teaches cosmology and astrophysics at [[UCLA]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/intro.html | title = Edward L. (Ned) Wright | work = UCLA Astronomy Dept.}}</ref> has criticized the specifics of Lerner's alternative cosmology asserting that his alternative model for [[Hubble's Law]] is dynamically unstable, that the [[number density]] of distant [[radio astronomy|radio sources]] falsifies Lerner's explanation for the [[cosmic microwave background]], and that Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to [[stellar nucleosynthesis]] fails because of the small observed abundance heavier elements.<ref name=Wright /> Lerner has directly disputed Wright's critique.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm | title = The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr. Wright is Wrong | accessdate = 2008-07-13}}</ref></blockquote> |
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He compared his opinion of the recent history of modern cosmology to his interpretation of ancient astronomy: |
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The book received and continues to receive unfavorable reviews from other professional cosmologists and physicists.<ref name=Wright /><ref name=Penzias /><ref name=Davies /><ref name=Stenger /><ref name=Penzias>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DD1F39F93BA25755C0A967958260 "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction"], New York Times, June 18, 1991</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Feuerbacher and Scranton|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html|title=Evidence for the Big Bang}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evolutionpages.com/big_bang_no_myth.htm|title=The Big Bang is not a Myth|author=Macandrew, Alec}}</ref><ref name=Carroll>Sean Carroll's [[blog]] is called [http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html ''Preposterous Universe'']</ref> |
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<blockquote>Just as the medieval astronomers added epicycle after epicycle to Ptolemy's spheres in order to match his geocentric theories with observed planetary movement, so today cosmologists add dark matter to cosmic strings to inflation, papering over the yawning crevices in their theory.<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 54</ref></blockquote> |
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To explain the observed evolution of the universe, he proposed a model of [[thermodynamics]] attributed in part to the work of [[Ilya Prigogine]] under which the universe has no definite age<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", footnote on page 388</ref> but continually increases in order in defiance of the [[second law of thermodynamics]].<ref>Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", pages 286-316</ref> |
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===Edward Wright's reaction=== |
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⚫ | [[Edward L. Wright]], who teaches cosmology and astrophysics at [[UCLA]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/intro.html | title = Edward L. (Ned) Wright | work = UCLA Astronomy Dept.}}</ref> has |
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As a rebuttal, on his web page "Dr. Wright is Wrong.," Lerner counters that: |
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<blockquote>Observation since the last edition of the book was published in 1992 have only served to make the arguments in it stronger and to further contradict Wright's assertions.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm | title = The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr. Wright is Wrong | accessdate = 2008-07-13}}</ref></blockquote> |
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Wright updated his page subsequent to this remarking that it appeared that Lerner had abandoned part of the plasma cosmology approach (specifically, Alfvén's explanation for the [[metric expansion of space|epxanding universe]]) in favor of [[tired light]], which Wright describes as "a total failure" while pointing out the errors in tired light on a related webpage.<ref name=Wright /> |
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===Reviews=== |
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The book received unfavorable reviews from professional cosmologists.<ref name=Wright /><ref name=Penzias /><ref name=Davies /><ref name=Stenger /> Cosmologist [[Paul Davies]], reviewed the book for the [[New York Times]] and found it to be unsatisfactory{{Specify|date=January 2009}}. The newspaper published a rebuttal by Lerner, who referred to Davies as "a leading proponent and popularizer of the big bang theory" and focused on his attribution of the theory to Lerner instead of to Alfvén:<ref name=Davies /> |
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<blockquote>Mr. Davies's motive in this is clear. Like other supporters of the big bang, he wants to portray a 'scientific establishment' unified behind an unquestioned theory that is challenged only by a few individuals without real credentials. Mr. Davies finds it impossible to admit that a Nobel laureate believes that the universe had no beginning, that, in Mr. Alfvén's words, 'the big bang is a myth'.</blockquote> |
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Lerner's rebuttal was itself criticized by [[Arno A. Penzias]], winner of the 1978 [[Nobel Prize for Physics]] for his codiscovery of [[cosmic microwave background]], which is the characteristic radiation spectrum associated with the Big Bang:<ref>http://cmb.physics.wisc.edu/polar/ezexp.html</ref> |
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<blockquote>The sizes of the vast ribbons of galaxies that Eric J. Lerner refers to come straight out of the Big Bang model itself.... Contrary to Mr. Lerner's claim, therefore, the 'simple mathematics' he cites rests upon, rather than contradicts the Big Bang model.<ref name=Penzias>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DD1F39F93BA25755C0A967958260 "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction"], New York Times, June 18, 1991</ref></blockquote> |
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Subsequent to this, Davies himself responded to Lerner's criticism of his review: |
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<blockquote>It seems to me that the theory proposed by Mr. Lerner has serious problems in relation to thermodynamics. This is merely my professional opinion, for what it is worth. Others can judge for themselves.... I accept that Mr. Lerner's book reports work that is largely due to Hannes Alfven, but this does not render it immune from criticism.<ref name=Davies>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFD8123CF932A3575AC0A967958260 "Did the Big Bang Happen?"], New York Times, Sep 1, 1991</ref></blockquote> |
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[[Victor J. Stenger]], Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy at the [[University of Hawaii]], criticized Lerner's book in a 1992 edition of the popular magazine, [[Skeptical Inquirer]]: |
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<blockquote>Lerner uses the kinds of arguments one often hears in public discourse on science, but rarely among professional scientists themselves. For example, he argues that plasma cosmology is in closer agreement with everyday observation than big-bang cosmology, and hence is the more sensible. A look through a telescope reveals spirals and other structures similar to those observed in the plasma laboratory (and, as cosmologist Rocky Kolb has remarked, in your bathroom toilet as well). Following Lerner's line of reasoning, we would conclude, as people once did, that the earth is flat, that the sun goes around the earth, and that species are immutable.<ref name=Stenger>{{cite journal | first = Victor J. | last = Stenger | title = Is the Big Bang a Bust? | url = http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/bang.txt | journal = [[Skeptical Inquirer]] | volume = 16 | issue = 412 | date = Summer 1992 }}</ref></blockquote> |
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[[Sean M. Carroll]] has also written a critique of Lerner's advocacy: |
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<blockquote>But if your professional activity consists of combating a cosmological model that is based on GR, you shouldn't open your mouth without understanding at least the basics. So if I get to decide whether to allocate money or jobs to one of the bright graduate students working on some of the many fruitful issues raised by the Big Bang cosmology, or divert it to a crackpot who claims that the Big Bang has no empirical successes, it's an easy choice. Not censorship, just sensible allocation of resources in a finite world.<ref name=Carroll>Sean Carroll's [[blog]] is called [http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html ''Preposterous Universe'']</ref></blockquote> |
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The book received favorable reviews from several reviewers who were not professional cosmologists;<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/067974049X | title = Editorial Reviews | work = Amazon.com }}</ref> for example, the [[Chicago Tribune]] says: |
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<blockquote>Lerner does a fine job poking holes in Big Bang thinking and provides a historical perspective as well, linking scientific theories to trends in philosophy, politics, religion and even economics...a most readable book.</blockquote> |
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and Gregg Sapp of [[Montana State University]] Libraries says:{{Verify credibility|date=January 2009}} |
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<blockquote>His contention that the Big Bang is merely a repackaged creation myth is presumptuous, but well argued. To present a current scientific controversy to a general audience risks, on one hand, misleading the public and, on the other, circumventing the peer review process. This book, however, makes valid points in a convincing manner and does neither. Recommended for general science collections.<blockquote/> |
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==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 12:10, 16 January 2009
Eric J. Lerner is an American popular science writer, independent plasma researcher,[1] and serves as the executive director of the Focus Fusion Society and president of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.[2] He is an advocate of plasma cosmology,[3] a nonstandard cosmology, and authored the 1991 book The Big Bang Never Happened, which advocates Hannes Alfvén's alternative to the dominant Big Bang theory.
Professional work
Lerner was born in 1947 in Brookline, Massachusetts, and received a BA in physics from Columbia University.[4] He did graduate work in physics at the University of Maryland, College Park,[5] and then pursued a career in popular science writing.
In 1984, he began studying plasma phenomena and laboratory fusion devices, performing experimental work on the dense plasma focus. Lerner received funding from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1994 and 2001 to explore whether the dense plasma focus could be an effective ion thruster to propel spacecraft.[6][7] He believes that it can also be used to produce useful aneutronic fusion energy.[8]
Lerner is a critic of the Big Bang model and advocates an infinitely old Universe.[9] In 2006 he accepted an invitation to be a Visiting Scientist at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, offered at the initiative of fellow Big Bang critic and MOND enthusiast Riccardo Scarpa.[10]
Lerner is also an active general science writer, estimating that he has had about 600 articles published. He has received journalism awards between 1984 and 1993 from the Aviation Space Writers Association.[11]
Activism
While at Columbia, Lerner participated in the 1965 Selma March[12] and helped organize the 1968 Columbia Student Strike.[13]
In the 1970s, Lerner became involved in the National Caucus of Labor Committees, an offshoot of the Columbia University Students for a Democratic Society. Lerner left the National Caucus in 1978, later stating in a lawsuit that he had resisted pressure from the US Labor Party, an organization led by Lyndon LaRouche, to violate election law by channeling profits of an engineering firm to the organization.[14]
Lerner has been involved in political activism. He has sought civil rights protection for immigrants as a member and spokesman for the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee.[15][16]
The Big Bang Never Happened
The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe (1991) is Lerner's controversial book rejecting mainstream Big Bang cosmology and advancing instead a non-standard plasma cosmology originally proposed by Hannes Alfvén, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize for Physics, in the 1960s. The book appeared at a time when results from the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite were of some concern to astrophysicists who expected to see Cosmic microwave background anisotropies but instead measured a perfect blackbody spectrum with no variation across the sky. Lerner referred to this as evidence that the Big Bang was a failed paradigm. He also denigrated the observational evidence for dark matter[17] and a recounting of a well known cosmological feature that superclusters are larger than the largest virialized structures that have formed in the age of the universe,[18]
Each of these critiques have been repudiated by mainstream cosmologists who have directly criticized Lerner for making errors of fact and interpretation.[19] For example, the size of superclusters is a feature that has been limited by subsequent observations to the end of greatness and explained in the astronomical journals as arising from a power spectrum of density fluctuations growing from the quantum fluctuations predicted in inflationary models. Additionally, the anisotropies were discovered in subsequent analysis of the both COBE and BOOMERanG experimens and were fully characterized by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe.
As an alternative, Lerner adopted that Hannes Alfven's model of plasma cosmology which relied on plasma physics to explain most, if not all, cosmological observations using appeals to electromagnetic forces.[20] Adopting an eternal universe, Lerner's explanation of observed cosmological evolution relied on a proposed a model of thermodynamics attributed in part to the work of Ilya Prigogine under which the universe has no definite age[21] but continually increases in order in defiance of the second law of thermodynamics.[22] Lerner also criticized modern cosmology as being equivalent to the epicycle after epicycle complexities of Ptolemaic astronomy.[23]
While there was favorable reaction from non-experts to Lerner's book,[24] cosmologists who have commented on the book have generally criticized it harshly. In particular, Edward L. Wright, who teaches cosmology and astrophysics at UCLA,[25] has criticized the specifics of Lerner's alternative cosmology asserting that his alternative model for Hubble's Law is dynamically unstable, that the number density of distant radio sources falsifies Lerner's explanation for the cosmic microwave background, and that Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to stellar nucleosynthesis fails because of the small observed abundance heavier elements.[19] Lerner has directly disputed Wright's critique.[26]
The book received and continues to receive unfavorable reviews from other professional cosmologists and physicists.[19][27][28][29][27][30][31][32]
References
- ^ John Wilford, "Novel Theory Challenges The Big Bang", New York Times, February 28, 1989
- ^ See Personnel listed on the Web site for Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.
- ^ H. Ratcliffe, "The First Crisis in Cosmology Conference" (PDF), Progress in Physics (Oct 2005)
- ^ Columbia Alumni Directory, 1988 edition, p.211
- ^ Biography at the Space Show, 2006
- ^ Kenneth Chang, "Practical Fusion, or Just a Bubble?", New York Times, Feb. 27, 2007
- ^ JPL Contract 959962, pg 8, and JPL Contract 960283
- ^ Patrick Huyghe, "3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science", Discover Magazine, June 2008
- ^ Marcus Chown, "Did the Big Bang Really Happen?", New Scientist, 2 July 2005
- ^ ESO Senior Visits in 2006, activities, and ESO Santiago Science Colloquia and Seminars 2006
- ^ Lerner estimates he has had about 600 articles published, in article such as Discover,[1] and Industrial Physicist.[2]
- ^ Kasra Manoocheri, "Selma Interview: Eric Lerner", Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement web site, Feb. 2007
- ^ "A Memorandum from the Strike Education Committee", Columbia University archives, May 4, 1968. Lists Eric Lerner as one of the committee members.
- ^ King, Dennis (1989). "32". Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism. Doubleday. ISBN 0385238800.
{{cite book}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ Spencer S. Hsu, "Immigrants Mistreated, Report Says", Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2007; A08
- ^ Eman Varoqua, "Not Everyone Is A Terrorist", The Record (Bergen County, NJ), Dec. 7, 2004
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 13
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 12
- ^ a b c Wright, Edward L. "Errors in "The Big Bang Never Happened"
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 14
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", footnote on page 388
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", pages 286-316
- ^ Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened", page 54
- ^ "Editorial Reviews". Amazon.com.
- ^ "Edward L. (Ned) Wright". UCLA Astronomy Dept.
- ^ "The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr. Wright is Wrong". Retrieved 2008-07-13.
- ^ a b "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction", New York Times, June 18, 1991
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Davies
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Stenger
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Feuerbacher and Scranton. "Evidence for the Big Bang".
- ^ Macandrew, Alec. "The Big Bang is not a Myth".
- ^ Sean Carroll's blog is called Preposterous Universe