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Discovery of the hot Big Bang: What happened in 1948

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Abstract

The idea that the universe is filled with the thermal radiation now termed the Cosmic Microwave Background was discussed in eleven publications in the year 1948. These papers offer a detailed example of the process of development of a new and now very productive line of research, and of the confusion that can attend new ideas. The confusion in this case left a common misunderstanding of the considerations that motivated the idea of the sea of radiation.

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  1. Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Phillip James Edwin Peebles

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Correspondence to Phillip James Edwin Peebles.

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Peebles, P. Discovery of the hot Big Bang: What happened in 1948. EPJ H 39, 205–223 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/e2014-50002-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/e2014-50002-y

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