How did Edwin Hubble change the world?

The steady state theory, which maintained that the universe was of constant size, was popular prior to Edwin Hubble's theory that it is expanding (supported by the red-shift of galaxies). Einstein also used the cosmological constant at one point, which he later acknowledged was a mistake and altered the basis of cosmology.

The steady state theory of the universe, which held that the universe had always existed in its current state and served as the basis for the scientific philosophy known as material realism, was accepted by scientists prior to Edwin Hubble's discovery of the universe's expansion.

Material realism, which holds that the universe is eternal and self-existent and that matter, energy, and natural causes are the only things that exist, was articulated by Carl Sagan in his well-known introduction to the Cosmos, "The cosmos is all that there is was or ever will be."

Following Edwin Hubble's discovery, the materialist philosophy was called into question as it became evident that the universe had a beginning and was not eternal.

The next question was, "Where did the current universe come from?" The Big Bang and Big Crush theories were developed to address this issue; the Big Bang theory has strong evidence that the current universe originated from a singularity, and the Big Crush theory has been disproven by more recent data (1998) showing that the universe is expanding at a faster rate.

Due to empirical evidence supporting the idea of an open universe, the idea of a static eternal universe was destroyed by Hubble's discovery of the red shift, and the philosophy of material realism underwent a seismic shift. The philosophy of science now has to deal with the possibility that something exists outside of natural cause, matter, and energy.

Edwin Hubble changed the world through his groundbreaking work in astronomy, particularly his discovery of the expansion of the universe and the observation of distant galaxies. This discovery revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos and laid the foundation for modern cosmology. Additionally, Hubble's observations helped establish the concept of the Big Bang theory, which is the prevailing explanation for the origin and evolution of the universe.