| − | The foremost [[British]] scientist of the 20th century, [[Fred Hoyle]], was inexplicably passed over for a Nobel Prize. It was awarded to William Alfred Fowler (with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar) for "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe"<ref>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1983/index.html</ref>. Fowler had done much of his work under the direction and leadership of Hoyle, and it was in fact the apparent 'fine-tuning' of the physical constants involved that had led to Hoyle abandoning his original atheistic viewpoint<ref>Fred Hoyle, "The Universe: Past and Present Reflections." Engineering and Science, November, 1981. pp. 8–12</ref>. The prize was awarded at a time when Fred Hoyle was embarrassing [[evolutionists]] by exposing the [[archaeopteryx]] at the British Museum of History as a fraud.<ref>http://www.cf.ac.uk/maths/wickramasinghe/hoyle.html</ref> The slight of Hoyle seemed to be a punishment for his criticism of the [[theory of evolution]], which he rejected later in his career<ref>Hoyle, Fred, Evolution from Space, Omni Lecture, Royal Institution, London, 12 January 1982; Evolution from Space (1982) pp. 27–28 ISBN 0894900838; Evolution from Space: A Theory of Cosmic Creationism (1984) ISBN 0671492632</ref>, having been indoctrinated as an [[atheist]] earlier in his life. | + | The foremost [[British]] scientist of the 20th century, [[Fred Hoyle]], was inexplicably passed over for a Nobel Prize. It was awarded to William Alfred Fowler (with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar) for "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe."<ref>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1983/index.html</ref><ref>It was in fact the apparent 'fine-tuning' of the physical constants involved that had led to Hoyle abandoning his original atheistic viewpoint. See Fred Hoyle, "The Universe: Past and Present Reflections." Engineering and Science, November, 1981. pp. 8–12</ref> Fowler's work on this was under the direction and leadership of Hoyle, and Fowler himself was "stunned" that Hoyle had been passed over for the prize.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/oct/03/fred-hoyle-nobel-prize/print</ref> The prize for the 1957 discovery was awarded during a time when Fred Hoyle was embarrassing [[evolutionists]] by exposing ss a fraud the [[Archaeopteryx]] at the British Museum of History. The slight of Hoyle seemed to have been a punishment for criticizing a central claim made by the [[theory of evolution]]. |