Georges Lemaître: a visionary contribute to the quest of the world model

The aim of this dissertation is to present the sequence of events which brought the scientific community of the early 20th century to conceive an expanding Universe born from a single origin. Among the facts here reported, some are well-known, some others instead are little-known backstories, not so easy neither to obtain nor to trust. Indeed, several matters shown in this thesis, now as then, create a battleground among scientists. Amid the numerous personalities whose contributions are discussed in this work, the main protagonist is surely Georges Lemaître, who managed to combine – without overlapping – his being both a priest and a scientist. The first chapter is dedicated to his biography, from his childhood in Belgium, to his early adulthood between England and the USA, to his success in the scientific community. The second and the third chapter explain how the race to the understanding of a Universe which not only expands, but also originated from a singularity, developed. The Belgian priest’s discoveries, as shown, were challenged by other important scientists, who, in several cases, Lemaître had a friendly relationship with. As a consequence, the fourth and final chapter deals with the multiple relations that the priest managed to build, thanks to his politeness and kindness. Moreover, it is also covered Lemaître’s personal connection with the Church and religion, without forgetting the personalities that influenced him – above all, Saint Thomas Aquinas. As a conclusion to this thesis, two appendices gather not only a summary of Lemaître’s works which are not already described in the chapters, but also the biographies of all the characters presented in this dissertation.