E-book details

The Atom of the Universe. The Life and Work of Georges Lemaître

The Atom of the Universe. The Life and Work of Georges Lemaître

Dominique Lambert

Ebook
This book takes us from the early childhood to the last days of George Lemaîitre, the man behind the theory of the primeval atom, now better known as Big Bang theory.

But who was George Lemaître? A clergyman, a genius astronomer, an audacious cosmologist, a computer enthusiast ahead of his time, a professor with his head in the clouds, a bon vivant mathematician and gourmand?
Dominique Lambert's book peels away these layers, chapter by chapter, from the adventures of a boy from Charleroi (Belgium) who became Monseigneur Lemaître as well as his impact on contemporary cosmology. The reader will follow Lemaitre’s works through the course of his life, discovering along the way his involvement with the Chinese student community, his complex relationship with the Vatican, his deep devotion to the University of Louvain, his friendship with figures such as Einstein and Eddington, his adventures through the two World Wars, his travels in America, his curious interest in Molière and his deep faith lived through the ‘Amis de Jésus’.
The resulting picture is of a remarkable figure who was sensitive, creative, meticulous and, paradoxically, both discreet and exuberant while also being a man of exceptional integrity who reconciled his science with his faith. More than a book on one person, this biography of Lemaître offers the key to a better understanding of the profound changes which took place in the fields of science, faith and academic life in the last century.

Preface by P.J.E. PeeblesThis book takes us from the early childhood to the last days of George Lemaîitre, the man behind the theory of the primeval atom, now better known as Big Bang theory.
But who was George Lemaître? A clergyman, a genius astronomer, an audacious cosmologist, a computer enthusiast ahead of his time, a professor with his head in the clouds, a bon vivant mathematician and gourmand?
Dominique Lambert's book peels away these layers, chapter by chapter, from the adventures of a boy from Charleroi (Belgium) who became Monseigneur Lemaître as well as his impact on contemporary cosmology. The reader will follow Lemaitre’s works through the course of his life, discovering along the way his involvement with the Chinese student community, his complex relationship with the Vatican, his deep devotion to the University of Louvain, his friendship with figures such as Einstein and Eddington, his adventures through the two World Wars, his travels in America, his curious interest in Molière and his deep faith lived through the ‘Amis de Jésus’.
The resulting picture is of a remarkable figure who was sensitive, creative, meticulous and, paradoxically, both discreet and exuberant while also being a man of exceptional integrity who reconciled his science with his faith. More than a book on one person, this biography of Lemaître offers the key to a better understanding of the profound changes which took place in the fields of science, faith and academic life in the last century.

Preface by P.J.E. Peebles
Preface ..... 9

Acknowledgments ..... 15

Chapter I

From Louvain to Namur ..... 21
1. The reed and the Universe ..... 21
2. Sources ..... 23
3. Guide to this work ..... 31

Chapter II

The early years: the Jesuits, mathematics and the mines (1894–1914) ..... 33
1. A Son from the Pays Noir ..... 33
2. At the Jesuit school ..... 41
3. The mines: a blind tunnel? ..... 45

Chapter III

The Great War: from student to artilleryman (1914–1919) ..... 53
1. The long walk to the Yser Front ..... 53
2. Back to the University: a new direction ..... 60

Chapter IV

The seminarian and relativity (1920–1923) ..... 67
1. The Saint-Rombaut house ..... 67
2. Lemaître, Theology and the Amis de Jesus’ ..... 69
3. Einstein’s physics viewed from Saint Rombaut ..... 75
4. Toward a new life ..... 84

Chapter V

The mathematician who became an astronomer ..... 87
1. A Clergyman at Eddington’s house ..... 87
2. The time to sow: from Canada to M.I.T. ..... 93
3. In the Right Place at the Right Time ..... 114
 
Chapter VI

From the expanding universe to the primeval atom hypothesis 
(1927–1931) ..... 121
1. An expanding universe with no beginning or end ..... 121
2. From Einstein’s blame to Eddington’s mea culpa ..... 132
3. The hypothesis of the Primeval Atom ..... 145

Chapter VII

The Chinese connection (1927–1950…) ..... 165
1. A disciple of Father Lebbe: From cosmology to the Chinese residence ..... 165
2. Florescit et lucet ..... 169
3. “Servir” ..... 173
4. Lemaitre’s Chinese Disciple: Tchang Yong-Li ..... 174

Chapter VIII

Arrival on the world scene? (1931–1939) ..... 179
1. Travels and Accolades ..... 179
2. Towards a theory of large-scale structures: the Lemaître-Tolman model ..... 184
3. A peek inside the black hole ..... 192
4. The defence of the “little lamb” ..... 199

Chapter IX

Science and faith: the theory of the two paths (1924–1936) ..... 207
1. The origin of the “two paths”: A tripartite influence ..... 207
2. The Congress of Melechen ..... 215
3. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences ..... 217

Chapter X

An astronomer starstruck by algebra(1931–1957) ..... 221
1. The Dirac equation redux (1931) ..... 221
2. The Projektive Relativitätstheorie (1933–1935) and Relativistic 
Theory of Protons and Electrons (1937) ..... 227
3. The Fundamental Theory and the spinors of Cartan (1948) ..... 234
4. The spinors: from the quantum field theory to history (1955–1957) ..... 236
 
Chapter XI

From cosmology to calculation: the Størmer problem ..... 241
1. The problem of the origin and nature of cosmic rays ..... 241
2. The determination of the orbits of cosmic rays: the Størmer problem ..... 244
3. The first “Lemaître’s School”: 1933–1945 ..... 254
4. The Størmer problem after 1945 ..... 259

Chapter XII

A time of war (1940–1944) ..... 263
1. Exodus ..... 263
2. A time for solidarity ..... 266
3. The time of isolation and reading ..... 270
4. A time of reprimand and trials ..... 277
5. Back to science ..... 281

Chapter XIII

Lemaitre the master. A portrait of his pedagogy (1940–1944) ..... 285
1. Teaching and research, a seamless cloth ..... 285
2. Attending a class and passing exams with the Canon ..... 292

Chapter XIV

From mechanics to calculators and back again (1940–1944) ..... 301
1. Mechanics and cosmology: the nebulae and their clusters ..... 301
2. Numerical calculation ..... 309
3. Mesmerized by machines ..... 315
4. The apotheosis: the three-body problem ..... 322

Chapter XV

Faith and science: the Un’ora problem (1951–1952) ..... 331
1. From Deus Absconditus to the natural beginning of the universe ..... 331
2. The Un’Ora discourse ..... 337
3. Lemaître’s reaction ..... 340
4. A Small Detour to Rome: the intervention of 1952 ..... 347

Chapter XVI

Monsignor Lemaitre (1956–1964) ..... 353
1. A little out of breath ..... 353
2. The Presidency of the Pontifical Academy ..... 355
3. A mathematician in the spirit of Vatican II ..... 362

Chapter XVII

Mundus est fabula. The philosophy of a cosmologist ..... 367
1. Lemaître and the philosophers ..... 367
2. Lemaître: philosophy teacher ..... 373
3. An intelligible, non-deterministic and strange universe ..... 375
4. Teilhard listening to Lemaître ..... 381

Chapter XVIII

A “pair of Molière” and the “Nim-Pythagoras” fight ..... 389
1. A double star: Molière ..... 389
2. Let us calculate without pain! ..... 393

Chapter XIX

The last years (1962–1966) ..... 405
1. Last works ..... 405
2. To oppose “The sin against the Holy Spirit”: the ACAPSUL ..... 411
3. At the end of the “Two paths ..... 414

Chapter XX

Msgr Georges Lemaître: a star that was without a double 
(1962–1966) ..... 419
1. Unity of life ..... 420
2. Unity of work ..... 422
 
Postscript
 
ATV-5, the Georges Lemaître ..... 429
 
Afterword

When Should One Stop Doing Cosmology and Turn to Calculations? ..... 431

Bibliography of Msgr. Georges Lemaître ..... 437
 
Index of Persons ..... 459
 
Photos ..... 465
  • Title: The Atom of the Universe. The Life and Work of Georges Lemaître
  • Author: Dominique Lambert
  • ISBN: 978-8-3788-6050-1, 9788378860501
  • Date of issue: 2015-08-09
  • Format: Ebook
  • Item ID: e_5120
  • Publisher: Copernicus Center Press