Events & Personalities
The primordial light
When the London Financial Times carried an article by science journalist Anjana Ahuja on the Big Bang Theory for the origin of the cosmos, the newspaper was probably not expecting an addendum by Prof Almut Hintze, Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Ahuja’s article stated "for decades, scientists have been scouring deep space for gravitational echoes of the Big Bang, in an attempt to prove key features of the only credible explanation for the origin of the universe.
"Fourteen billion years ago, within a monstrously energetic, infinitesimally small fraction of a second, nothingness exploded into everything.
"Yesterday, at a press conference in Massachusetts that followed a weekend of intense speculation, scientists announced that they had indeed ‘heard’ the echoes — or, rather, seen its effect on light arriving from the edge of the universe. If confirmed, it is a spectacular finding that is as important to fundamental physics as the unearthing of the Higgs boson.
"The afterglow of the Big Bang is still detectable in the form of low-level radiation that permeates every corner of the cosmos. The so-called cosmic microwave background was released 380,000 years after the event itself, when the universe cooled enough for light particles to travel uninterrupted across the cosmos. It has been described as the oldest light in the universe.”
Referring to the Zoroastrian Middle Persian text on cosmology, the Bundahishn, compiled in the 10th century CE (Christian Era) which states "at the beginning of time Ohrmazd created the world out of his own substance, which is eternal light,” Hintze observes the ancient text "reads like a pre-scientific summary of the most recent discovery made with telescopes in Antarctica, of measureable gravitational waves generated within a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of the second in which happened the birth of the universe 13.8 billion years ago…
"The discovery of the gravitational ripples is very exciting indeed, but it should not be forgotten that the Zoroastrian pre-scientific explanation of the origins of the world not only pre-empted this discovery but also viewed it within the larger picture of the origins of the cosmos and of its goal, ideas which scientists are still a long way from verifying in measurable terms.
"The recent scientific discovery brings into evidence two points. The first is that, alongside science, it is well worth being aware of the humanities, religious traditions in particular. Second, the study of ancient religious traditions requires great, especially linguistic, expertise in order to access sources that are written in obscure scripts and languages, and such expertise deserves to be valued as much as scientific explorations.
"The question of what the primordial light is within which the Big Bang happened is still to be explored — no doubt at an expense of unimaginable size — but pre-scientific answers are already there in religious traditions. One approach does not preclude the other, of course, and both are vital. But in the current climate that underrates and, as a result, underfunds the humanities, it is necessary to be open — and listen — to both.”
Both articles were given to Parsiana by reader and noted jurist Fali Nariman who termed the contents "an interesting tit-bit of real Zoroastriana.”
Ahuja’s article stated "for decades, scientists have been scouring deep space for gravitational echoes of the Big Bang, in an attempt to prove key features of the only credible explanation for the origin of the universe.
"Fourteen billion years ago, within a monstrously energetic, infinitesimally small fraction of a second, nothingness exploded into everything.
"Yesterday, at a press conference in Massachusetts that followed a weekend of intense speculation, scientists announced that they had indeed ‘heard’ the echoes — or, rather, seen its effect on light arriving from the edge of the universe. If confirmed, it is a spectacular finding that is as important to fundamental physics as the unearthing of the Higgs boson.
"The afterglow of the Big Bang is still detectable in the form of low-level radiation that permeates every corner of the cosmos. The so-called cosmic microwave background was released 380,000 years after the event itself, when the universe cooled enough for light particles to travel uninterrupted across the cosmos. It has been described as the oldest light in the universe.”
Referring to the Zoroastrian Middle Persian text on cosmology, the Bundahishn, compiled in the 10th century CE (Christian Era) which states "at the beginning of time Ohrmazd created the world out of his own substance, which is eternal light,” Hintze observes the ancient text "reads like a pre-scientific summary of the most recent discovery made with telescopes in Antarctica, of measureable gravitational waves generated within a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of the second in which happened the birth of the universe 13.8 billion years ago…
"The discovery of the gravitational ripples is very exciting indeed, but it should not be forgotten that the Zoroastrian pre-scientific explanation of the origins of the world not only pre-empted this discovery but also viewed it within the larger picture of the origins of the cosmos and of its goal, ideas which scientists are still a long way from verifying in measurable terms.
"The recent scientific discovery brings into evidence two points. The first is that, alongside science, it is well worth being aware of the humanities, religious traditions in particular. Second, the study of ancient religious traditions requires great, especially linguistic, expertise in order to access sources that are written in obscure scripts and languages, and such expertise deserves to be valued as much as scientific explorations.
"The question of what the primordial light is within which the Big Bang happened is still to be explored — no doubt at an expense of unimaginable size — but pre-scientific answers are already there in religious traditions. One approach does not preclude the other, of course, and both are vital. But in the current climate that underrates and, as a result, underfunds the humanities, it is necessary to be open — and listen — to both.”
Both articles were given to Parsiana by reader and noted jurist Fali Nariman who termed the contents "an interesting tit-bit of real Zoroastriana.”
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