Google Doodle honours Georges Lemaitre’s Big Bang theory

New Delhi, July 17: Google on Tuesday dedicated an animated Doodle to Belgian cosmologist Georges Lemaitre who in 1927 propounded the Big Bang theory when he theorised that the universe began as a single point and expanded to become as big as it is now. Lemaitre’s thesis was based on calculations derived from Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, but Einstein was initially not impressed with Lemaitre’s work.

“Your calculations are correct, but your physics is atrocious,” Einstein said, two years before changing his mind.

For his contribution to enhancing the understanding of the universe, Lemaitre received in 1934 the prestigious Francqui prize, the highest scientific accolade in Belgium — and one of his nominators was Einstein.

The Google Doodle on Tuesday that marks Lemaitre’s 124th birth anniversary depicts the cosmologist within the constantly expanding universe that he first envisioned, surrounded by galaxies expanding outward just as he said they would. (IANS)