What Are The Different Hypotheses Regarding The Origin Of The Earth ?
From the very beginning, man has been curious to know how the earth and the universe came into being. Due to this common interest, all the early civilizations developed their own explanations and versions of the origin of the earth and nature of the universe. COSMOLOGY is the field of study, which deals with the evolution of ideas regarding the origin of the earth, its relation to the solar system, and how the solar system is related’ to the universe. Man had to wait until the invention of the telescope, when he could peer into space and explore the universe. However, this could be done at a limited scale. After two or three hundred years, more powerful telescopes were developed. In the meantime, there had been new developments in the fields of mathematics and physics. These enable man to explore space more adequately. There are two rival theories explaining the origin of the universe: The super dense or “BIG BANG” theory: This theory was put forward by Ryle. He suggested that a vast explosion of super dense matter created the universe. This explosion produced the galaxies of stars which are scattered throughout the space. The stars are also flying away from each other, at the amazing speed of 600 million km/hour. The steady state or continuous creation theory: This theory was elaborated by Hoyle, Bondi and Gold. They rejected the Big Bang Theory. Instead, they put forward the idea that matter is being continuously created. New galaxies are born and compensate for the ones which are receding beyond man’s ken.
