Fred Hoyle
Overview
 
Sir Fred Hoyle FRS (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

 and mathematician noted primarily for his contribution to the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis
Stellar nucleosynthesis
Stellar nucleosynthesis is the collective term for the nuclear reactions taking place in stars to build the nuclei of the elements heavier than hydrogen. Some small quantity of these reactions also occur on the stellar surface under various circumstances...

 and his often controversial stance on other cosmological
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...

 and scientific matters—in particular his rejection of the "Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...

" theory, a term originally coined by him as a jocular, perhaps disparaging, name for the theory which was the main rival to his own.
Quotations

"Big Bang" theory

The Nature of the Universe (1950)

Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards.

"Sayings of the Week", The Observer (9 September 1979)

A junkyard contains all the bits and pieces of a Boeing 747, dismembered and in disarray. A whirlwind happens to blow through the yard. What is the chance that after its passage a fully assembled 747, ready to fly, will be found standing there? So small as to be negligible, even if a tornado were to blow through enough junkyards to fill the whole Universe.

Arguing that living organisms could not have arisen by chance alone.

When I was young, the old regarded me as an outrageous young fellow, and now that I'm old the young regard me as an outrageous old fellow.

As quoted in Scientific American (March 1995)

There is a coherent plan to the universe, though I don't know what it's a plan for.

Attributed in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1999) edited by Elizabeth Knowles and Angela Partington

 
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