amazon.com The Velikovsky Heresies: Worlds in Collision and Ancient Catastrophes Revisited [Paperback] Laird Scranton (Author) 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews) | Book Description Publication Date: January 25, 2012 A reexamination of Immanuel Velikovsky's controversial Venus theories in light of new astronomical and archaeological findings o Provides new evidence from recent space probe missions to support Velikovsky's theories on the formation of Venus o Presents recently translated ancient texts from China, Korea, and Japan that uphold the cometlike descriptions of Venus cited by Velikovsky o Examines evidence of major geomagnetic events in 1500 BCE and 750 BCE that correspond with close passes of the comet Venus and its impact with Mars o Offers scientific explanations for many disputed aspects of Velikovsky's theories, such as how Venus could have transformed from a comet into an orbiting planet Surrounded by controversy even before its publication in 1950, Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision introduced the provocative theory that Venus began as a brilliant comet ejected by Jupiter around 1600 BCE, wreaking chaos on Mars and Earth as it roamed through our solar system prior to settling into its current orbit. Immediately dismissed without any investigation and subject to vicious attacks, Velikovsky's theory is now poised for reexamination in light of recent astronomical and archaeological findings. Exploring the key points of Velikovsky's theories, Laird Scranton presents evidence from recent space probe missions to show that Venus still exhibits cometlike properties, such as its atmospheric composition, and could be a young planet. Reviewing the widespread cometlike descriptions of Venus from 1500 BCE to 750 BCE as well as Velikovsky's observation that no records of Venus exist prior to 1600 BCE, Scranton reveals recently translated ancient texts from China, Korea, and Japan that further uphold Velikovsky's theories. Examining evidence of major geomagnetic and climate-change events around 1500 BCE and 750 BCE, corresponding with close passes of the comet Venus and its impact with Mars, the author offers scientific explanations for many disputed aspects of Velikovsky's theories, such as how Venus transformed from a comet into an orbiting planet. By updating this unresolved controversy with new scientific evidence, Scranton helps us to understand how it was that Worlds in Collision was the one book found open on Albert Einstein's desk at the time of his death. Show More Show Less A reexamination of Immanuel Velikovsky's controversial Venus theories in light of new astronomical and archaeological findings o Provides new evidence from recent space probe missions to support Velikovsky's theories on the formation of Venus o Presents recently translated ancient texts from China, Korea, and Japan that uphold the cometlike descriptions of Venus cited by Velikovsky o Examines evidence of major geomagnetic events in 1500 BCE and 750 BCE that correspond with close passes of the comet Venus and its impact with Mars o Offers scientific explanations for many disputed aspects of Velikovsky's theories, such as how Venus could have transformed from a comet into an orbiting planet Surrounded by controversy even before its publication in 1950, Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision introduced the provocative theory that Venus began as a brilliant comet ejected by Jupiter around 1600 BCE, wreaking chaos on Mars and Earth as it roamed through our solar system prior to settling into its current orbit. Immediately dismissed without any investigation and subject to vicious attacks, Velikovsky's theory is now poised for reexamination in light of recent astronomical and archaeological findings. Exploring the key points of Velikovsky's theories, Laird Scranton presents evidence from recent space probe missions to show that Venus still exhibits cometlike properties, such as its atmospheric composition, and could be a young planet. Reviewing the widespread cometlike descriptions of Venus from 1500 BCE to 750 BCE as well as Velikovsky's observation that no records of Venus exist prior to 1600 BCE, Scranton reveals recently translated ancient texts from China, Korea, and Japan that further uphold Velikovsky's theories. Examining evidence of major geomagnetic and climate-change events around 1500 BCE and 750 BCE, corresponding with close passes of the comet Venus and its impact with Mars, the author offers scientific explanations for many disputed aspects of Velikovsky's theories, such as how Venus transformed from a comet into an orbiting planet. By updating this unresolved controversy with new scientific evidence, Scranton helps us to understand how it was that Worlds in Collision was the one book found open on Albert Einstein's desk at the time of his death. _________________________________________________________________ Editorial Reviews From the Back Cover ANCIENT MYSTERIES / NEW AGE Surrounded by controversy even before its publication in 1950, Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision introduced the provocative theory that Venus began as a brilliant comet ejected by Jupiter around 1600 BCE, wreaking chaos on Mars and Earth as it roamed through our solar system prior to settling into its current orbit. Immediately dismissed without any investigation and subject to vicious attacks, Velikovsky's theory is now poised for reexamination in light of recent astronomical and archaeological findings. Exploring the key points of Velikovsky's theories, Laird Scranton presents evidence from recent space probe missions to show that Venus still exhibits comet-like properties, such as its atmospheric composition, and could be a young planet. Reviewing the widespread comet-like descriptions of Venus from 1500 BCE to 750 BCE as well as Velikovsky's observation that no records of Venus exist prior to 1600 BCE, Scranton reveals recently translated ancient texts from China, Korea, and Japan that further uphold Velikovsky's theories. Examining evidence of major geomagnetic and climate-change events around 1500 BCE and 750 BCE, corresponding with close passes of the comet Venus and its impact with Mars, the author offers scientific explanations for many disputed aspects of Velikovsky's theories, such as how Venus transformed from a comet into an orbiting planet. By updating this unresolved controversy with new scientific evidence, Scranton helps us to understand how it was that Worlds in Collision was the one book found open on Albert Einstein's desk at the time of his death. LAIRD SCRANTON, an independent software designer, has studied ancient myth, language, and cosmology since 1997. The author of several books, including The Science of the Dogon, he has been a lecturer at Colgate University and lives in Albany, New York. About the Author Laird Scranton, an independent software designer, has studied ancient myth, language, and cosmology since 1997. The author of several books, including The Science of the Dogon, he has been a lecturer at Colgate University and lives in Albany, New York. See all Editorial Reviews _________________________________________________________________ Profound Ignorance of Modern Science, March 2, 2012 By David Morrison (San Jose CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: The Velikovsky Heresies: Worlds in Collision and Ancient Catastrophes Revisited (Paperback) It is sad that a new book has come out defending Velikovsky by an author who simply does not understand modern science. The facts are that Velikovsky's scenario of planet near-collisions, as described in Worlds in Collision and other books, contradicts much of what we know about astronomy and geology. Velikovsky's knowledge of science was basically nineteenth century. He wrote World's in Collision before the space age, before the understanding by geologists of plate tectonics, before the sophisticated computer and analysis tools that are now fundamental to modern scientific research. Some of the suggestions he made had a superficial appeal in 1950, but discoveries since then make it obvious that his ideas are wrong. To mention just two examples: (1) Astronomers now know that any disturbance of planet orbits from the passage of a massive object persist for millions of years. If a rogue planet (Venus according to Velikovsky) had passed even once near the Earth it would have stripped away the Moon and grossly changed our orbit. (2) Geochemists can now analyze Earth history with exquisite precision, deciphering from rocks and ice the detailed record of temperatures, atmospheric composition, and volcanic eruptions over hundreds of thousands of years. We clearly see the evidence of successive ice ages and of individual volcanic eruptions such as Tambora, Toba, and Santorini. But there is no evidence of the recent global catastrophes suggested by Velikovsky. Unfortunately the author of this book seems as scientifically ignorant as was Velikovsky. This is unforgivable in a book published now in the 21st century. Velikovsky Deserves No Credence, February 29, 2012 By c.leroy - See all my reviews This review is from: The Velikovsky Heresies: Worlds in Collision and Ancient Catastrophes Revisited (Paperback) With all that we have learned in the Space Age about Venus, this book has no reason to exist as a justification for Velikovsky's errant notions about the recent history of the Solar System. The large, deep impact craters on Venus imaged by the Magellan mission in 1990 show the crust is too thick to have been molten only 3500 years ago as Velikovsky claimed. If Venus had ever approached Earth close enough to exchange atmospheres, as Velikovsky claimed, the Moon would have been loosed; but the Moon is still here on a nearly circular, resonant orbit that betrays no sign of it motion having been disrupted as recently as Velikovsky claimed. Furthermore, there is no sign on Earth for the red dust from Venus that supposedly caused 40 years of darkness at Exodus, not in the world's glaciers and ice caps, not on the ocean bottoms, and not even in the Sea of Galilee. Before deciding to purchase this book, the prospective buyer is encouraged to read the entries in Wikipedia for "Immanuel Velikovsky" and "Worlds in Collision", the better to get a grasp on all the real evidence that disproves Velikovsky's long-discredited ideas, followed by reading the entries for "Bill Napier", "Victor Clube", and "Mike Baillie", whose research on "coherent catastrophism", involving Earth's episodic, energetic interaction with Comet Encke and the Taurid meteor streams during the past 10,000 years or so, provides a real, astronomically feasible, comet-based model for the sky-combat myths that motivated Velikovsky's erroneous, planet-based speculations. The Taurid-Encke complex is now inactive, but it was last threatening in the 6th century A.D., according to Patrick McCafferty and Mike Baillie in "The Celtic Gods: Comets in Irish Mythology" (2005), which contradicts Velikovsky's saying that Earth has been safe from sky-borne cataclysms since the last interaction with Mars in 687 B.C. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews