On Science and Its Truths

In 1961, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, and Professor Cyril Domb exchanged correspondence on the subject of Torah and Science. Professor Domb was a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University from 1952 to 1954 and professor of theoretical physics at King's College, London, from 1954 to 1981. From 1981 to 1989, Domb was professor of physics at Bar-Ilan University, and remains professor emeritus there. He is also president of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists. He now lives in Israel.

Some background to the subject of the correspondence:

In February, 1961, Professor Cyril Domb wrote an article in London's Jewish Chronicle concerning the work of Martin Ryle in the field of cosmology. Ryle's work was instrumental in bringing the field out of the realm of speculation to become a true science. A discipline becomes a science when it starts generating precise predictions which can be tested by experimentation. This was not the case with early cosmologies, e.g., those of Einstein and of de Sitter, which were purely speculative. The "big bang" theory of George Gamow was more precise and made the assumption that the universe started with an enormous explosion billions of years ago, the time and magnitude of which was fixed by astrophysical data. Likewise the "steady state" theory of Hoyle, Bondi and Gold which postulated that matter is created continuously out of the vacuum of empty space—although such a process remained clouded in mystery. Once these theories had been formulated with precise predictions of data which could be compared with experiment, cosmology could accurately be described as a science. The problem of how to obtain the data was greatly helped by the emergence of radio astronomy, in which Ryle played a key part.

In the 1960's, Ryle's efforts began to show fruit, and he suggested that it should be possible to discriminate between the two theories. Gradually but steadily he began to favor the big bang theory. His activities and conclusions were reported in the press, and it was generally assumed that religious thinkers would support "big bang" and secular thinkers "steady state."

In a Jewish Chronicle article that attracted wide attention, Professor Domb asserted that Torah thinking could live with either cosmology, and he proceeded to explain his reasoning. The Rebbe, apparently, disagreed.