100 years ago, Albert Einstein published three papers that rocked the world. These papers proved the existence of the atom, introduced thetheory of relativity, and described quantum mechanics.
Pretty good debut for a 26 year old scientist, huh?
His equations for relativity indicated that the universewas expanding. This bothered him, because if it was expanding, it must have had a beginning and a beginner.Since neither of these appealed to him, Einstein introduced a 'fudge factor' that ensured a 'steady state' universe, one that had no beginning or end.
But in 1929, Edwin Hubble showed that the furthest galaxies were fleeing away from each other, just as the Big Bang model predicted. So in 1931, Einstein embraced what would later be known as the Big Bang theory, saying, "This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened." He referred to the 'fudge factor' to achieve a steady-state universe as the biggest blunder of his career.
As I'll explain during the next couple of days, Einstein's theories have been thoroughly proved and verified by experiments and measurements. But there'san even more important implication of Einstein's discovery.Not only does the universe have a beginning, but timeitself, our own dimension of cause and effect, beganwith the Big Bang.
That's right -- time itself does not exist beforethen. The very line of time begins with that creation event. Matter, energy, time and space were createdin an instant by an intelligence outside of spaceand time.
About this intelligence, Albert Einstein wrote in his book "The World As I See It" that the harmony of natural law "Reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all thesystematic thinking and acting of human beings isan utterly insignificant reflection."
He went on to write, "Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe--a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble."
Pretty significant statement, wouldn't you say?
