Is the Big Bang Theory the Correct Theory?

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We don't have any theory now that tells us the dozen or so key numbers in the standard model of particle physics. And what we might hope is that a string theory would do that, and probably predict lots of other particles, etc. It could get to the point where say the Big Bang theory stands now versus when it was in competition with the steady state theory. But I think we're going to have to await a big breakthrough in physics and some theory that links together gravity and the micro world before we can actually understand the details of why the universe is expanding the way it is.

Shermer and Rees discuss: existential threats • overpopulation • biodiversity loss • climate change • AI and self-driving cars, robots, and unemployment • his bet with Steven Pinker • his disagreement with Richard Dawkins • how science works as a communal activity • scientific creativity • science communication • science education • why there aren’t more women and people of color in STEM fields • verification vs. falsification • Bayesian reasoning and scientific progress • Model Dependent Realism and the nature of reality Fermi’s Paradox • why he’s an atheist but wants to be buried in the Presbyterian church in which he was raised • mysterian mysteries.

Martin Rees is Astronomer Royal, former President of the Royal Society, Fellow (and former Master) of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He sits as a member of the UK House of Lords. He is the author of many bestselling popular science books, including: On the Future; Just Six Numbers; Before the Beginning; and Our Final Hour. His newest book is If Science is to Save Us.