Look at the use of colour! The outlines of the frames, the differing shades of green in the backgrounds of four and five, the light grey and purple rocks in frame two are there in the final frame. Why differing rocks?Watterson simply decided to enjoy himself!
Calvin, paleontologists beat you to it a LONG time ago. The name Tyrannosaurus rex comes from the Greek words tyranno (" tyrant “) and saurus (”lizard") and the Latin word rex (“king”). So, Tyrannosaurus rex means something like “king of the tyrant lizards.”
I wonder how long it took Watterson to draw a Sunday cartoon. There are a lot of details in some of the frames and getting the faces right could be a challenge.
If applied to some textbooks, a child’s imagination could make topics more interesting to other children. Everybody knows that children know that adults don’t know anything.
the Big Bang was originally a derogatory term made up in an attempt to discredit the theory. Also “Tyranosaurus Rex” translates into “tyrant lizard king,” which isn’t that far off from what Calvin said. Of course “monstrous killer death bird” would be more accurate.
My knock against the Big Bang theory is it is essentially divine creation without the divine part. I have seen enough in my years of hunting down malfunctions to know whatever the world is, it is not what we think it is. It has made me a skeptical solipsist: I suspect, but am not certain, we create the world moment by moment exactly as we create dreams. We know subjective realities exist because we create them every night (say sleep experts), but we don’t know if an objective reality exists.
Next rant: why counting numbers should never have been the basis of advanced mathematics. Point 1: Base ten is only useful if we are counting on our fingers. Point %….
Scientists DID NOT call it the “Big Bang”. Journalists did that, writing for the mind of a 6th grader. And it’s nothing new. Their great-grandparents thought ‘unsinkable’ to describe the Titanic was better than the engineer’s description, "practically (or “almost”) unsinkable".
I’ve learned from Neil DeGrasse Tyson that astrophysicists, which include cosmologists, pride themselves on giving simple, easily understood names to the phenomena they study. Black holes. Dark energy. The Big Bang. It sets them apart from other sciences that use lingo, much of it Latin, that only an insider can understand.
Neil deGrasse Tyson always says that scientists in general (and astronomers in particular) are a “tell it like it is” bunch of folx. “Big bang”, “black hole”, “Moon rocks”, “heat death”, and so on — terms that don’t require a whole lot of explanation to be understood even by little kids.
BE THIS GUY over 2 years ago
And the Sun should be called The Yellow Burning Ball in the Sky! (The exclamation mark will be part of the name.)
Templo S.U.D. over 2 years ago
I wonder what Calvin would even rename his fellow humans.
Sugar Bombs 95 over 2 years ago
Apparently a lot of actual scientists started using the term “Horrendous Space Kablooie” thanks to this comic, similar to Gary Larson’s Thagomizer.
Surprised “Monstrous killer death lizard” never caught on. Probably should be “monstrous killer death bird” instead.
Robin Harwood over 2 years ago
Look at the use of colour! The outlines of the frames, the differing shades of green in the backgrounds of four and five, the light grey and purple rocks in frame two are there in the final frame. Why differing rocks?Watterson simply decided to enjoy himself!
David_the_CAD over 2 years ago
Calvin must have worked for Hamilton! Ohio
The Calvinosaurus That Calvin Wanted To Discover over 2 years ago
I guess scientists should stick to doing research on certain events and hire 6 year old children to come up with names for them.
JudasPeckerwood over 2 years ago
Don’t blame me — I pushed for “Big Bangy McBangface” but was overruled by my fellow scientists.
rklynch over 2 years ago
I like it. It has…. character..
Pointspread over 2 years ago
Surprised Calvin knows about empiricism.
Dr. Quatermass over 2 years ago
Hmm… how can we politicize the Big Bang? My theory is that I never liked the show. To quote Dennis Miller, “That’s just my opinion. I may be wrong.”
bluram over 2 years ago
I can see it now, in twenty-five years, Calvin will be celebrated in the Science World Journals.
Robert4170 over 2 years ago
Calvin, paleontologists beat you to it a LONG time ago. The name Tyrannosaurus rex comes from the Greek words tyranno (" tyrant “) and saurus (”lizard") and the Latin word rex (“king”). So, Tyrannosaurus rex means something like “king of the tyrant lizards.”
GeorgeInAZ over 2 years ago
Calvin, future theologian.
Susan00100 over 2 years ago
If I remember correctly, the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus has been unearthed a few years ago, and it had been determined that it was a female.
So, she would be a “Tyrannosaurus Regina”.
MS72 over 2 years ago
Genesis 1 “And God saw that it was good.”
The Humanist over 2 years ago
I call the creation of the world “shaping” the Old English word for creation.
colddonkey over 2 years ago
. . . . . and global warming shall be called climate change, oh they’re already doing that.
More Coffee Please! Premium Member over 2 years ago
He’s got a point…
Who, me? over 2 years ago
I wonder how long it took Watterson to draw a Sunday cartoon. There are a lot of details in some of the frames and getting the faces right could be a challenge.
Purple People Eater over 2 years ago
What would you call the creation of the universe? I’d call it the creation of the universe.
Rufus The naked mole rat over 2 years ago
But Calvin, “The Big Bang” has become a successful TV series with Mayim Bialik.
sandpiper over 2 years ago
If applied to some textbooks, a child’s imagination could make topics more interesting to other children. Everybody knows that children know that adults don’t know anything.
lmuller7 over 2 years ago
" ATOMIC " burning ball !
NeedaChuckle Premium Member over 2 years ago
Fred Hoyle did not believe in it and coined the term Big Bang in an interview. Just the facts ma’am!
vaughnrl2003 Premium Member over 2 years ago
I think we might get away with renaming the “Big Bang” ..wait for it. Presidents Day!
joegeethree over 2 years ago
What’s up with those darn empiricists naming their own discoveries?
david_42 over 2 years ago
Sir Fred Hoyle, the astrophysicist who coined the term “Big Bang” never accepted that theory. He was mocking Lemaître.
A Hip loving Canadian... over 2 years ago
Ironically, a horrendous space rock named Kablooie took care of the monstrous death lizard.
gantech over 2 years ago
Whoever named the Big Bang must have known that some day there would be a tv show that needed a catchy title.
Will_Scarlet over 2 years ago
Someday you’ll learn how effective understatement really is, Calvin.
BiggerNate91 over 2 years ago
Can’t wait for my favourite TV show, “The Horrendous Space Kablooie Theory.”
Bilan over 2 years ago
Well, Kaboom is out, that was copyrighted for a house cleaner.
IshkaBibel1 over 2 years ago
Based entirely on this cartoon the Big Bang is often referred to, among scientists, as the HSK.
Point-dexter over 2 years ago
I have a feeling Hamster Huey was involved.
Otis Rufus Driftwood over 2 years ago
I’d say the dysfunctions of modern scientists, if not science itself, are much clearer to me now.
Bryan Vanblaricom over 2 years ago
Someday Calvin will learn that Tyrannosaurus Rex means “King of the Tyrant Lizards.”
dv1093 over 2 years ago
No Calvin, the start of the universe was named after a TV show.
g04922 over 2 years ago
Is Calvin a reincarnation of a Native American? The names sound familiar.
ChessPirate over 2 years ago
“Hamster Huey and the Horrendous Space Gooey Kablooie”…
mistercatworks over 2 years ago
“Big Bang” fits well with high-visibility on a T-shirt. When it comes to simplifying the Universe, fits-on-a-T-shirt is the ultimate Occam’s Razor. :)
txmystic over 2 years ago
The look on Calvin’s face when he says “The Horrendous Space Kablooie!”
yangeldf over 2 years ago
the Big Bang was originally a derogatory term made up in an attempt to discredit the theory. Also “Tyranosaurus Rex” translates into “tyrant lizard king,” which isn’t that far off from what Calvin said. Of course “monstrous killer death bird” would be more accurate.
mindjob over 2 years ago
Calvin will change his mind when he learns Latin and appreciates the binomial naming system. Then he can call the big band the biggus bangus
Prof. Mementomori's Deep-Fried Pressure Suit over 2 years ago
Sorry, Calvin — “Horrendous Space Kablooie” and “Monstrous Killer Death Lizard” are both metal band names in these parts…
Hydrohead over 2 years ago
I thought Tyrannosaur was Latin for Monster Killer Death Lizard…?
zarilla over 2 years ago
They probably also got Pluto demoted from planet to dwarf planet.
Daltongang Premium Member over 2 years ago
Jeeze Calvin, think about it for a minute, this is so simple to figure out. No one would watch a show called The Horrendous Space Kablooie Theory.
Chris Sherlock over 2 years ago
Calvin has an impressive vocabulary for one so young.
flagmichael over 2 years ago
My knock against the Big Bang theory is it is essentially divine creation without the divine part. I have seen enough in my years of hunting down malfunctions to know whatever the world is, it is not what we think it is. It has made me a skeptical solipsist: I suspect, but am not certain, we create the world moment by moment exactly as we create dreams. We know subjective realities exist because we create them every night (say sleep experts), but we don’t know if an objective reality exists.
Next rant: why counting numbers should never have been the basis of advanced mathematics. Point 1: Base ten is only useful if we are counting on our fingers. Point %….
ron over 2 years ago
Scientists DID NOT call it the “Big Bang”. Journalists did that, writing for the mind of a 6th grader. And it’s nothing new. Their great-grandparents thought ‘unsinkable’ to describe the Titanic was better than the engineer’s description, "practically (or “almost”) unsinkable".
pixiekitten Premium Member over 2 years ago
Hamster Huey and the Horrendous Space Kablooie
djlactin over 2 years ago
“Big Bang” was actually used derisively by Fred Hoyle, who advocates a ‘steady-state universe’. But the term stuck.
PaulAbbott2 over 2 years ago
How about “the Great Attractor”? Or Up Quarks", “Down Quarks”, Top and Bottom Quarks? Top quark sounds better than a “fermion with a 1/2 spin”
maverick.kaminski over 2 years ago
I’ve learned from Neil DeGrasse Tyson that astrophysicists, which include cosmologists, pride themselves on giving simple, easily understood names to the phenomena they study. Black holes. Dark energy. The Big Bang. It sets them apart from other sciences that use lingo, much of it Latin, that only an insider can understand.
rgcviper over 2 years ago
I, too, wonder how Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooey fit into things here …
I also happen to love “The Big Bang Theory” on TV. I’ve seen all the episodes numerous times and still laugh at them. That’s no Bazinga, either.
Richard S Russell Premium Member over 2 years ago
Neil deGrasse Tyson always says that scientists in general (and astronomers in particular) are a “tell it like it is” bunch of folx. “Big bang”, “black hole”, “Moon rocks”, “heat death”, and so on — terms that don’t require a whole lot of explanation to be understood even by little kids.
JoeMartinFan Premium Member over 2 years ago
Change the name “Big Bang”? Sure. Change the name “tyrannosaur”? NEVER!!!
parkerinthehouse over 2 years ago
one of the best C and H!
rroush Premium Member over 2 years ago
Calvin is right. Horrendous Space Kablooie has a nice ring to it. I’ll bet Carl Sagan would have loved it.
hagarthehorrible over 2 years ago
Whatever, the environment created nssr your house is sheer serene.
Cathy P. over 2 years ago
“Brave Helios, wake up your steeds, Bring the warmth the countryside needs…” The Moody Blues, but I don’t remember the album.
smsrt over 2 years ago
Also known as, “The Gospel According to Calvin”
phoenixnyc over 2 years ago
“Horrendous space kablooey” doesn’t lend itself to double entendres. #Hitchhikers
chassimmons Premium Member over 2 years ago
The interesting thing is that the name “big bang” was actually more or less sarcasm, invented by Fred Hoyle, who did not accept the theory.