Einstein was not the only scientist who reacted reflexively against the idea of a beginning. Eddington himself found the metaphysical implications troubling. “Philosophically, the notion of a beginning of the present order is repugnant to me,” he said. “I should like to find a genuine loophole. I simply do not believe the present order of things started off with a bang. The expanding Universe is preposterous. . . . It leaves me cold.”
