What were conditions like at the time of the Big Bang? What happened before that? Was there a tiny universe, devoid of all matter, and then the matte… - Carl Sagan

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What were conditions like at the time of the Big Bang? What happened before that? Was there a tiny universe, devoid of all matter, and then the matter suddenly created from nothing? How does that happen?
In many cultures it is customary to answer that God created the universe out of nothing. But this is mere temporizing. If we wish courageously to pursue the question, we must, of course ask next where God comes from. And if we decide this to be unanswerable, why not save a step and decide that the origin of the universe is an unanswerable question? Or, if we say that God has always existed, why not save a step and conclude that the universe has always existed?

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About Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan (9 November 1934 – 20 December 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the hypothesis, accepted since, that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to, and calculated using, the greenhouse effect. He testified to the US Congress in 1985 that the greenhouse effect will change the earth's climate system.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Native Name: Carl Edward Sagan
Alternative Names: Sagan Carl E. Sagan Carl E Sagan C. E. Sagan C.E. Sagan C E Sagan C. Sagan C Sagan Sagan C Sagan C. Sagan C. E. Sagan CE
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Additional quotes by Carl Sagan

"İnsanoğlu Tanrı hakkındaki düşüncelerinin gerçekçi bir muhasebesini yapacak olursa, tanık olduğu olayların bilinmeyen, gizli kalan nedenlerini dile getirmek için çoğu zaman "tanrı" sözcüğünü kullandığını itiraf etmek zorunda kalır. Bu sözcüğü, nedenlerin kaynağını bulamadığı, doğal olanın kaynağı anlaşılır olmaktan çıktığı zaman kullanmaktadır. Ya da nedenleri birbirine bağlayan zincirin halkalarını kaybettiği anda, sonucu Tanrı'ya bağlayarak sorunu çözer ve araştırmasına son verir. Bu yüzden, bir şeyin oluşunu tanrılara bağladığında, aslında zihnindeki karanlığın yerini, hayret duygusuyla önünde eğildiği alışılmış bir sese terk etmekten başka bir şey mi yapıyor?"

One of the great commandments of science is, 'Mistrust arguments from authority'. (Scientists, being primates, and thus given to dominance hierarchies, of course do not always follow this commandment.)

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