What got into Hoyle?

Brad, since this is the first time I've been able to interpret one of your posts, I feel compelled to break my lurker status and respond.Your account is accurate. But it refers to the "five nucleon problem". Hoyle reasoned that for us to exist the universe had to provide a way for carbon to be formed, and since we exist, there was a way. He found that if helium had a particular energy level, the problem would be solved. He contacted Willy Fowler at Cal Tech, to have him look for helium at that energy level. Fowler was skeptical, but gave in. Sure enough, he found what Hoyle predicted.For those curious, I got this story from Simon Singh's "Big Bang".Edited by barfly, : No reason given.

From what I've read about him, there are a few reasons for his position on the Big Bang Theory.First,from his childhood, he had a defiant nature that made him prone to defying authority and convention.Second, I think his atheism made a theory that came from a priest that and postulated a defnite beginning to the universe anathema.Third, he had a problem with fact that the BBT apparently violated relativity.Edited by barfly, : No reason given.Edited by barfly, : No reason given.

The incident with the Nobel committee is something that could be to his credit. Pissing them off to expose what he felt was an injustice to another person is commendable.

I originally posted from memory. I just checked my source and it was carbon.

Actually, I don't think Hoyle questioned the expansion of the universe, he just came up with a different explanation.