OM 1-6: What About Galaxies?

We have seen that the cosmologists' attempt to comprehend the universe within the narrow bounds of their narrow materialistic conceptions has failed to explain its origins. Moreover, we have seen that their theories do not even account for what they say is present in the universe now.

For instance, the big bang theory does not account for the existence of galaxies. Imagine a scientist of great genius who had knowledge of the current cosmological theories but no knowledge of observational astronomy. Would he be able to predict that galaxies would form? The answer is no. A universe made up of a uniformly distributed cloud of gas is the only result consistent with the standard formulations of the theory. This cloud would have a density of perhaps one atom per several cubic feet, making it little better than a perfect vacuum. To get anything else requires special modifications of the initial conditions of the universe, and scientists find such modifications difficult to justify. Traditionally, a scientific theory is considered acceptable if starting from the initial framework you can straightforwardly predict things. A theory that has to be monkeyed around with to a considerable degree to obtain valid predictions is of questionable value.

As Steven Weinberg says in The First Three Minutes, "The theory of the formation of galaxies is one of the great outstanding problems in astrophysics, a problem that today seems far from solution."21 Then without skipping a beat he says, "But that is another story." But no, wait a minute-that is exactly the story! If the big bang theory can't explain the initial cause of the universe or major features of the universe such as galaxies, then what does it explain? Not very much, it would seem.