The Big Bang and the Origin of the Universe

Fred Hoyle's name, the Big Bang, is actually somewhat misleading. The universe did not literally go back. It wasn't an explosion. When an explosion goes off, like if you set off a firecracker, it throws material out through space which is standing still. That is not what is happening with the beginning of the universe as we discussed earlier. All of space, all of the currently visible universe, was originally compressed and that space then started expanding like a balloon.