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150 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
You'd think the fate of the universe was at stake, August 20, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe (Paperback)
Here's another sensational statement for you: There's no need to become hysterical when attacking or defending this book. I have some problems with Lerner's style and conclusions, but I think he successfully makes the point that the role of plasma physics in the formation of galaxies is deserving of further consideration. And his objections to the Big Bang are neither new nor shocking; with the exception of the age of the "Great Wall," they comprise the same problems that cosmologists have been working indefatigably to explain since the Big Bang theory gained mass acceptance. His heresy is simply in seeking outside the parameters of the Big Bang for a solution. One reviewer, who finds Lerner's conclusions--and perhaps even his search--unjustifiable, says that this book "deserves to be burned." There are several unflattering names for this approach to debate. Apropos of reviewers, a couple of them recommend that prospective readers seek out the works of Nobel laureates, who "know what they're talking about." The "obscure Lerner" based his book on the work of Hannes Alfven, who won the Nobel prize in 1970 for his work in plasma physics and is considered the father of that discipline. (Alfven took another heretical position when he claimed that electrical currents could pass through space. Both his idea and the proofs he offered were met with howling derision, but oddly enough he turned out to be right!) Another reviewer complains that Lerner offers no explanation for the uniformity of background microwave radiation. In fact, he offers an explanation based on a diffusion effect caused by the absorption and emission of microwaves by "black bodies." Right or wrong, it's in the book and can thus be subjected to rational inquiry. Plasma cosmology may someday be proven to be dead wrong. Until then, it's an elegant, exciting theory that deserves open-minded discussion rather than the largely subliterate polemics--pro and con--afforded it in this forum of eBay amateurs. No one should feel so secure in the accuracy of a human conception as to be unwilling to at least read a dissenting viewpoint.
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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Modern-day Epicycles, June 13, 2001
This review is from: The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe (Paperback)
I remember the (greatly simplified for school consumption) story of Kepler and his ellipses replacing the convoluted, yet working, system of epicycles used to explain retrograde and irregular motion in the skies. I remember the argument being between the "big bang", "steady state" and "oscillating". Big Bang has been winning, but I have been watching in dismay over the years as correction after correction has been plugged into the theory and the equations. When you start having to tweak a fine balance between time frames of superluminal spatial expansion, "real" mass of the neutrino, unobserved-yet-needed for the theory supermassive one-dimensional cosmic strings in order to get just the right homogeneity and 'roughness' of the universe... it starts to feel like epicycles all over again. Lerner's treatise is pretty nice in spots. I like the presentation of an alternative plasma cosmology. It's not 'extraordinary'; in fact, it's quite ordinary in many ways. Disappointing to the fanciful who want to strap on a Higgs field mass disintegrator in one hundred years, but, like evolution, there's much to be said for what ordinary processes can do, given an extraordinary amount of time to do it in. I find Lerner's historicopolitical rants informative historically, but he obviously has a lot of big beefs to rant about, and it seemed a bit inappropriate to me to choose so much volume of book to rant in. Still, it's enough to get the gears going. There are testable hypotheses in alternative cosmologies - once the Big Bang's infallibility complex wanes a bit, then perhaps we can have some proper discussions again, and who knows, perhaps the Big Bang theory will come out stronger for it, but I doubt very much that it will remain unchanged. Look around the 'Net - there are other valid and interesting critiques of the Big Bang theory around, some with rather interesting implications, should they turn out to be true. The 'Compton Effect' is a *very* interesting possibility that could turn redshifts on their heads. The jury's still out on that for me, but that presents some testable predictions, and some interesting explanations of observations (quasars, for one) and it just boggles my mind to think that perhaps, just perhaps, the universe isn't flying apart quite as fast as it might seem. I just hope the Big Bang theory stays together long enough for them to discover something nifty and new in the particle accelerators :)
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73 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Is Naturalism getting in your way?, November 17, 1999
This review is from: The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe (Paperback)
First a few remarks on the below critiques of Mr. Lerner's book. Come on people please stop the invectives and hyperbole. Science should be a pursuit of the truth and any opposing hypothesis or argument should be greatly appreciated by the adherents to that specific viewpoint. Opposing views show weaknesses AND strengths in one's theory. I welcome this book it raises some very good questions and shows some of the deficiencies in the current big bang model that need to be addressed. However, I have a different take on why this conjecture came about. I do not know Mr. Lerner personally, but we do have some mutual colleagues, some that support the plasma cosmology and others that do not. What is interesting is their reasons for this support seem not to come from a purely scientific zeal but rather a fear of the ontological implications of the current big bang theory. While physicists have usually been inoculated from the mind numbing and intellect robbing philosophy of naturalism that pervades most of the other scientific fields of study, I believe that this postulate was a direct concoction to adhere to presuppositions of naturalism. To back up this point one only needs to read Chapter Nine "Infinite in Time and Space" specifically the subsections labeled "Cosmology and Theology", Infinity and Deity", and "The Moment of Creation". A scientist should bring no philosophical presuppositions to the table, when we do we tend to overlook or bypass data that disagrees with what we want to find. The big bang model as it is now, is incomplete, there are still many questions that need to be answered. However the majority of empirical and verifiable data still points towards a cataclysmic start of the universe from vacuity. This book did not show that the big bang is unattainable due to the paucity of the data, rather it shows that there are many unknowns and further work must be done. Just as there are many undiscovered properties about light, gravity, etc. et al. If you read this book just to bolster you belief that the big bang could not have happened, I suggest that you sincerely look at why you hold that belief. What scares you about the big bang model? If you want it to bolster your philosophical stance against the unknown, buy it. If however, you hold to the big bang model as cosmological fact, buy this book also, it will challenge you and enlighten you to see that we don't have all the answer's yet.
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