Before Big Bang

Introduction

No question is too big for our Science Reporter, Bob Hirshon. Today, with a little help from a Nobel Prize Winner, he takes on the question: What happened before the big bang?

Podcast

Before Big Bang

Transcript

How time started with a bang. I'm Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

It seems the curiosity of caller Phil Miller of Chesapeake, Ohio, knows no bounds of time or space.

Miller:
"I want to know what happened before the big bang."

Well, Phil, we spoke to Nobel Prize winning Physicist Leon Lederman, of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Lederman:
"Well, the first thing is there's no 'before.' Because time itself, as far as we understand time, was generated—and space—at the Big Bang."

He explains that time slows down in gravitational fields, and the Big Bang had all the matter in the universe.

Lederman:
"They... whew... that's a good question, since the laws of physics are full of expressions like time, they'd have to be carefully reworded (laughs) by the Master, somehow."

So, Phil, the Big Bang is not only where energy and matter converge, but also physics, philosophy, and religion.

If you've got a deep science question, call us at 1-800-WHY-ISIT. If we use it on the show, you'll get a free Science Update mug. For the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I'm Bob Hirshon.

Making Sense of the Research

Scientists use their knowledge and understanding of science to try to answer many of the questions that have plagued humans for centuries. They seek to answer questions like: How was the universe formed? What happened at the beginning of time? Where do we come from? Scientists make use of the knowledge about the universe that has already been established and they build upon it. They also sometimes change their views according to new information, making scientific knowledge stable and yet subject to modification. This concept can be difficult for students to grasp. This particular Science Update explains one theory about how the universe began and what might have happened before that possible beginning. The question about the beginning of the universe touches not only on scientific understanding but on humans' religious and philosophical beliefs as well. Students should be made aware that finding our place in the universe and how we got here is a huge task. The scientific effort to understand the universe is just one way humans have attempted to explain our origins and it has made an immeasurable contribution to human knowledge.

Now try to answer the following questions:

1. What does Dr. Leon Lederman say about what might have happened before the Big Bang?
2. What did the Big Bang generate?
3. How do gravitational fields affect time?
4. What did the Big Bang contain?
5. What did exist before the Big Bang?

Going Further

To further explore this issue, you can go to PBS Online's presentation of Stephen Hawking's Universe. Within this site, Hawking explores different conceptions of the universe, including the Big Bang.

PBS Online also hosts a presentation on Faith and Reason that explores the interaction between science and religion. One particular area of this site that may be of interest is Cosmology, which focuses on the religious and scientific views of the beginnings of the universe.

Another good source for exploring the origin and age of the universe is The Inquirer's Guide to the Universe, presented by the Franklin Institute.