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An astrophysicist, Alpher's grad school thesis was contrary to the thinking of the 1940s: he worked on the Big Bang theory. At the time, the "steady state" theory was predominant; "Big Bang" had already been proposed, but Alpher predicted that if the Big Bang really happened, there would be leftover cosmic microwave background radiation. Furthermore, he predicted the percentages of elements such as hydrogen and helium. His theory was a phenomenon: hundreds of people attended his dissertation defense, and it was even covered in newspapers. But there was no way to prove him right since there were no instruments to make the required measurements, and Alpher's work was largely forgotten for two decades, until it could be measured -- and was what Alpher had predicted. Alpher was overlooked for a Nobel prize and became known as the "forgotten father of the Big Bang". It wasn't until the 1990s when real recognition finally came. In his 1993 book The First Three Minutes, physics Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg called Alpher's work "the first thoroughly modern analysis of the early history of the universe." Alpher was awarded the Henry Draper Medal in 1993, the Magellanic Premium of the American Philosophical Society in 1975, the Georges Vanderlinden Physics prize of the Belgian Academy of Sciences, and awards from the New York Academy of Sciences and the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia -- nearly every significant physics prize except the Nobel Prize. The recognition continued with the award of the 2005 National Medal of Science from President Bush, but Alpher was too ill to attend the ceremony. He died August 12 at age 86.
From This is True for 12 August 2007
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