The Big Bang

By Francis J. Kelly

When Einstein did, himself, first contemplate
The universe curled up in steady state,
His cosmologic’ constant did provide
A force to keep from falling all inside.

Lemaitre said that at the start we all
Were compressed down into a giant ball,
And named the ball, “The Primeval Atom,”
And left its Cause for all of us to fathom.

Lemaitre thought that all the cosmic rays
Could still be traced to these initial days.
But now we think that thermal noise from space
To us today does bring their tell-tale trace.

Great Eddington admired this ball quite well.
To him it seemed to really ring a bell.
But Hoyle against this ball, a chorus sang,
And bellicosely dubbed it “The Big Bang!”

George Gamow said that at the start instead,
A flash of brilliant light came from the dead;
And from the flash all mater did condense
To give us all the stuff that we have since.

Then Bethe, Fowler--with some other guys
Declared that all the stars up in the skies
The heavy elements do generate
And spew them out in supernova state.

To make these theories work they always take
The weak reaction to, the neutrons, make;
So they can generate the heavy atom;
And hence neutrinos must proceed therefrom.

This is the story of the universe
Which physicists insist did at the first
Come from an unknown Source of grand dimension
Which Faith illuminates in wrapt attention.

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