Conflict in the Cosmos: Fred Hoyle's Life in Science

by Simon Mitton

Fred Hoyle's prolific career spanned more than 60 years. During that time, he made major contributions in fundamental areas of astronomy, His most important work focused on the evolution of stars, the origin of the chemical elements, the nature of gravitational forces, and the origin of life on Earth. But he is perhaps best remembered for his rare talent as a science communicator. He hosted one of the first radio programs that focused on science and then moved his show to the new medium of television, making him a household name long before such science luminaries as Patrick Moore or Carl Sagan rose to prominence. A man of ceaseless intellectual activity, Hoyle pushed the boundaries of our knowledge by being both right and wrong. When he was right, his contributions were of Nobel Laureate quality. Indeed, even when he was wrong, he stimulated his exasperated opponents to work that much more furiously to produce damning evidence against him, thus yielding additional discoveries and leading to more knowledge on a topic. Simon Mitton's sensitive biography tells the story of Hoyle's life as well as his science. Structuring each chapter around an intellectual puzzle, the science is framed within the context of the knowledge available to Hoyle at the time. Drawing on his personal knowledge of Fred Hoyle, Mitton vividly recreates the many public clashes between Hoyle and his critics, and at the same time he clearly explains the science underlying the conflict.

Genres: Biography, Science, Nonfiction

428 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a biography of Fred Hoyle, the man who coined the term “Big Bang”, and who was one of the leading astronomers of the 20th century. “Conflict in the Cosmos” does not refer to some sort of violence out in the stars, but instead to Hoyle’s squabbles with fellow scholars and astronomers at Cambridge and elsewhere. Hoyle could be a pleasant chap, but was brash and outspoken (he may have lost a Nobel Prize by shooting off his mouth) and wasted a lot of energy fighting his peers, and left Cambridge early in a sulk. (The book may have given too many details about these academic spats.)

The two main things that Hoyle will be remembered for are pioneering work in understanding how most the elements in our world such as carbon or gold were created inside stars, and his strong support of the “steady state theory”. The steady state theory posits that the universe has always forever and ever been as we see it now. The steady state theory is in definite conflict with the current view in astronomy (the Big Bang theory), which is that the universe began about 14 billion years ago in a vast explosion, and has been expanding ever since. Hoyle fought a long and losing battle against the Big Bang theory, and it is the height of irony that Hoyle invented the term “Big Bang” as a pejorative to describe a theory he despised.

Fred Hoyle was quite busy. Besides his work in astronomy, during World War II he did important work in the clever use of radar, he wrote popular books (both fiction and non-fiction), his lectures on BBC made him one of the most famous scientists in England, and he held several administrative posts. But besides his good ideas, his biographer says he had some dopey ones.

An interesting character study – how did such a talented scientist get along so badly with some of his fellow scientists? The book uses the term “corrosive paranoia”.

[Doc Kinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an important book. Much of my knowledge, heretofore, of Sir Fred came from Hawking biopics which were not completely complimentary of the man.

As usual, real life is both far more complex and fascinating. The man, in the end, was a pivotal and important figure with respect to 20th century astronomy in general and in the UK in particular. The author, Mitton, does a reasonable job with the prose, and I think this ends up being an important book for those interested in astronomical history.

[Doug Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Big Bang ridiculed by the man who invented the term.