Ultimate fate of the universe out a theory that has since come to be called the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe. In 1948, Fred Hoyle set out his opposing Steady State theory in which the universe continually expanded but remained statistically unchanged as new matter is constantly created. These two theories were active contenders until the 1965 discovery, by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, of the cosmic microwave background radiation, a fact that is a straightforward prediction of the Big Bang theory, and one that the original Steady State theory could not account for. As a result, the Big Bang theory
The Beginning and End of the Universe while there are "oodles of graphs and stats," which he explains, "with seemingly effortless lucidity," regular viewers of "Horizon", "might be immune to the barrage of cosmic stats." The Beginning and End of the Universe The Beginning and End of the Universe is a two-part British television series outlining the theory of the beginning of the universe and the theories about its ending. This episode, exploring theories of how the universe came into being, outlines the realisation of Edwin Hubble that the universe is expanding, and the discovery of the residual radiation that gave weight to the Big Bang theory.