The Big Bang at IIT Bombay Techfest 2008 - TOI article

IIT lecture gets biblical tinge, students upset

Hemali Chhapia I TNN

Mumbai: Drawing parallels between the Bible and the Big Bang theory, stating that Christianity is true and Jesus is the way to God, would sound like Benny Hinn speaking on channel God. But this was said in a lecture delivered by Prof H F Schaefer, director of the Center for Computational Chemistry, University of Georgia, at the Techfest of the Indian Institute of Technology on Friday.
The lecture did not go down well with the secular students on the IIT-Powai campus, who termed the talk as an “attempt at conversion’’.
A five-time Nobel award nominee Schaefer, who was to speak on ‘Stephen Hawking, the Big Bang and God’, quoted numerous scientists and Nobel laureates who spoke about science and God. But towards the lecture’s close, his comments started getting religious undertones. “The Big Bang is more consistent with Christianity than other religions. The Big Bang ripples are clearly pointing to an ex-nihilo creation consistent with the first few verses of the book of Genesis,’’ he said.
Earlier, quoting George Smoot, a Nobel laureate and his classmate at MIT, Schaefer said, “There is no doubt that a parallel exists between the Big Bang as an event and the Christian notion of creation from nothing.’’
Later, quoting Arno Penzias, co-discoverer of the microwave background radiation and 1978 Nobel Prize recipient in physics, he said: “The best data we have (concerning the Big Bang) are exactly what I would have predicted, had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole.’’
Upset IIT-Bombay students distributed a handbill protesting the lecture among the audience. “They use impressive words to confuse masses and deliver ideas that normally would not be accepted at a science and technology institute like ours,’’ the handbill read.
“Though Prof Schaefer is a famous chemist, his opinions beyond the domain of academic credibility shouldn’t be considered to be scientifically authoritative,’’ the handbill added.
hemali.chhapia@timesgroup.com

RAISING HACKLES: H F Schaefer