ASTRONOMY THEORY DROPPED

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30879, 12 October 1965, Page 21

ASTRONOMY THEORY DROPPED

(Special Crspdt. N.Z PA.) LONDON, Oct. 11. Cambridge radioastronomers are jubilant over Professor Fred Hoyle’s retraction of the steady-state theory which suggests that the universe creates and destroys itself at a constant rate thus maintaining a balance, says the “Sunday Telegraph.” Professor Hoyle’s recantation appears in the scientific journal “Nature” and, says

the newspaper, marks the end of the century’s most brilliant . academic controversy, which caused world-wide arguments. His reasons for abandoning the steady-state theory, which he has supported for at least i a decade, were based on his i own observations and theories rather than outside persuasion. Professor Hoyle did not fully commit himself to the opposing oscillating “bigbang” theory, pointing out that the suggested model was in some respects unsatisfactory, particularly in that it implies the unlikely possibility that the universe will eventually come to rest in an intermediate static state.

The controversy over the two theories reached its height in February, 1961, when Professor Martin Ryle, professor of radio-astronomy at Cambridge, announced the discovery of a collection of new radio stars supporting the “big-bang” theory. This suggests that about a billion years ago all the matter in the universe was concentrated in one place. This exploded, producing a vast pulsing motion and its effects are still continuing. A year later, Professor Hoyle came up with the discovery of dense knots of matter at the centre of every galaxy. These were used to

support the steady-state theory. The “Sunday Telegraph” says a re-interpretation of this discovery has been one of the main causes of Professor Hoyle’s change of mind.

For most scientists the death blow to the steady-state theory came three months ago when Mount Wilson and Palomar observatories, California, reported the existence of super-bright galaxies moving further out into space than had ever been seen before. The motion of these galaxies was in every way consistent with their being driven outwards with the explosive force of a “big-bang.”