Did Edwin Hubble plagiarize?

TL;DR

This paper clarifies the historical sequence of the discovery of the expanding universe law, arguing that Hubble did not plagiarize Lemaitre but simply did not cite his earlier work due to differing scientific beliefs.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical analysis showing that Hubble's work was independent and not a case of plagiarism, clarifying misconceptions about the discovery timeline.

Findings

Lemaitre discovered the velocity-distance relation before Hubble.

Hubble's analysis was based on observed data, not Lemaitre's theoretical work.

Hubble did not believe in an expanding universe, explaining the lack of citation.

Abstract

Recently Block published an astro-ph{{http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.3928 (2011).}} insinuating that Lemaitre discovery paper of the Expanding Universe was censored prior to its translation into English and publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Consequently, Lemaitre's credit for the discovery of the velocity-distance correlation was not recognized. We examine here the chain of events leading to the discovery of the 'Hubble law'. Our summary: (a) Lemaitre found a theoretical linear correlation between velocity and distance. (b) Lemaitre assumed the existence of a linear relation between velocity and distance and calculated the coefficient. (c) Hubble took the data plotted it and demonstrated that a linear relation represents the observed data. (d) Hubble never believed in Lemaitre's solution, namely in an expanding universe. Consequently, Hubble never cited Lemaitre. We conclude that the charge that Lemaitre's paper was censored or ignored let alone plagiarized by Hubble, is not founded, and explain why Lemaitre's earlier theoretical discovery and derived 'Hubble constant' was not cited or recognized, by Hubble as well as by many other leading researchers.