English astrophysicist Hermann Bondi (born 1919) made his career out of studying the universe and its origins. Although his "steady state" theory was eventually discarded in favor of the "big bang" theory of creation, Bondi opposed what he called the "arrogance of certainty" that discouraged scientists and others from questioning current theories of the universe's origins.

Born in Vienna, Austria, on November 1, 1919, Bondi grew up with Jewish parents who disagreed about the importance of religious observances. "My father didn't believe, but liked the religious observances and rituals as social cement. My mother was a nonbeliever who didn't like the forms," he said in an interview in Free Inquiry. He credited his attraction to humanism to this division between his parents.

By 1933, social strife in Austria was peaking; Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had come to power, and Bondi's country struggled to remain independent. The increasing prominence of the Nazi party...