In the beginning there was God AND the Big Bang (well, maybe, says top scientist)
Pastor Dale Morgan
Added: Apr 11th, 2007 6:42 AM
*In the beginning there was God AND the Big Bang (well, maybe, says top
scientist)
The Ultimate Question is: Who created the Big Bang?
*
DOUGLAS WALKER AND PETER HUTCHISON
A LEADING expert on the Big Bang theory of creation has said he admires
people who believe in God and has not ruled out His existence himself.
Dr Brian Cox, who was the science adviser for Danny Boyle's latest movie
Sunshine, was speaking yesterday while in the capital to give a talk at
the Edinburgh International Science Festival.
The renowned scientist, whose unique career path once led him to play
keyboards for Nineties pop group D:Ream, also revealed the main
character in Boyle's sci-fi blockbuster was loosely based on him.
Despite his scientific beliefs, he says it is impossible to rule out the
existence of a greater being, and he admires people with strong
religious beliefs.
He said: "Scientists should be able to draw a line between things we do
and don't know - they should be comfortable in doing that. We can't rule
anything out as being impossible, including the existence of God or a
greater being.
"It has been proven without question that the world was created more
than 12,000 years ago, contrary to what is written in the Bible. That
doesn't mean there isn't a possibility God was in existence at the time
of the Big Bang, however.
"I respect people who have strong religious beliefs because, like
scientists, they also have a great interest in the world."
Dr Cox told how he had been approached by Trainspotting director Boyle
to be the science adviser for Sunshine.
The 39-year-old scientist said: "Danny
wanted me to be an adviser to the actors on how scientists would perform
in certain situations and explain things to them in layman's terms.
"Before I started working with him, Danny thought the physicist in the
film, Capa, may be too young. When he saw me he changed his mind,
though, and the role played by Cillian Murphy was loosely based on me.
"I have said to Cillian that he should really be giving me 10 per cent
of his fee for the movie."
Dr Cox's involvement with Sunshine is not his first taste of
showbusiness, having, in fact, had a No.1 single with D:Ream in the
Nineties.
Things Can Only Get Better was adopted as Labour's theme for the 1997
general election.
Dr Cox's talk at the science festival yesterday, The Big Bang
Experiment, concerned the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is set up
at CERN, the particle physics centre, in Geneva.
The LHC is 27km long and consists of two pipes. Protons are sent in
opposite directions and collide, to recreate the conditions present less
than a billionth of a second after the Big Bang.
Dr Cox said: "Basically, whatever went on a billionth of a second after
the Universe began, you can sit there and watch it."
Dr Cox is confident that the work at CERN will soon "open up a can of
worms" as more is discovered about what "makes us, us".
Copyright The Scotsman