Alternative ideas in cosmology

Abstract

It is shown that in cosmology, as in the rest of science, the evaluation of observational evidence and theoretical concepts has often led to the acceptance of ideas that were once considered outlandish. Fred Hoyle himself was responsible for generating several such ideas, although he was much ahead of his time. Here some of those ideas are outlined, ideas that were thought to be unrealistic at the time they were proposed, but which we have now been assimilated into mainstream cosmology. A general comment that emerges from such examples is that highly creative individuals who are far ahead of their time do not get the recognition they deserve once their ideas are accepted as standard.