C. Leroy Ellenberger
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*Charles Leroy Ellenberger* (b.1942, known as C. Leroy) is perhaps best
known as a one-time advocate,^[1] but now a prolific critic of
controversial writer Immanuel Velikovsky and his works on catastrophism.
He first read /Worlds in Collision in August 1969 after discovering it
while browsing in the B. Dalton's Bookstore in Crestwood, Missouri.^[2] In
1979, he became a contributing editor (and later Senior Editor & Executive
Secretary) to the Velikovsky-inspired Kronos journal,^[3] and has
contributed material to many other publications.^[4] In 1980 he was
selected by the editor of /Astronomy/ magazine to debate James Oberg on
Velikovsky.^[5] His confidence in the validity of Velikovsky's ideas was
shaken in January 1982 when Kronos sponsored his attendance at the
semi-annual AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C., in order to distribute
information on Velikovsky. In a wide-ranging conversation with Jeremy
Cherfas, then a writer for the British weekly science magazine New
Scientist over how the press misunderstood Velikovsky, Cherfas had
counter-arguments to many points that Ellenberger was not able to
rebut.^[6] According to Professor of Social Theory Alfred de Grazia at New
York University, "By 1983 Ellenberger was preparing to abandon much of
quantavolution and found now that the story of Velikovsky was not without
its shady tones, and more important, that Arctic ice cores and bristlecone
pine dating technologies were directly contradicting Holocene
quantavolutions . . . ; further, that Gentry's studies of the surprising
'instant' polonium halos of creation . . . were probably invalid."^[7]
Henry Bauer described Ellenberger's role in the Velikovsky scene as
follows: ". . . was a confidant to Velikovsky, a frequent visitor (often
with camera) from April 1978 to his death in November 1979, and a Senior
Editor of the Velikovskian journal /Kronos/, until the evidence forced him
to conclude that Velikovsky's scientific claims were baseless. Velikovsky
inscribed his copy of /Ramses II and His Time/ 'To Leroy who is consumed
by the sacred flame of search for truth', 20 May 1978, and gave him
permission to sell 'Velikovsky's right!' T-shirts. Alfred de Grazia,
impetus for /The Velikovsky Affair/ (1966), appointed him chronicler of
the continuing Velikovsky controversy in 1980. Ellenberger's last contact
with Velikovsky was a phone call from him two days before he died."^[8]
Also, he "has tried unceasingly but to little avail to have his former
colleagues acknowledge the accumulating evidence, for example, from
Greenland ice cores, that Velikovsky's claimed catastrophes did not in
fact occur. Ellenberger points out, too, that Velikovsky's writings have
become superfluous: astronomically plausible argument and speculation
about relatively recent cosmic catastrophism can now be found in the work
of Victor Clube and Bill Napier (/The Cosmic Serpent/, 1982; /The Cosmic
Winter/, 1990), where the testimony of myth and historical records is also
taken into account."^[9]
Ellenberger has degrees in chemical engineering and finance & operations
research (B.S., Washington Univ.; M.B.A., Univ. of Pennsylvania). He is
currently a Medical Article Retrieval Specialist in St. Louis,
Missouri.^[10]
Velikovskian critic
In 1984, Ellenberger noted:
" Over the past four years I have come to appreciate that, even if
Velikovsky were right, there are good physical reasons why astronomers and
other scientists have opposed him so tenaciously. Unfortunately, many of
these reasons, often based on information developed since Velikovsky wrote
his books, have never been discussed in Velikovskian forums or have never
been discussed in a fully informed manner. Examples of the former include
the Worzel Ash, ice cores, and plate tectonics. Examples of the latter
include tree rings, ice age dynamics, geomagnetism, and cosmic
electricity.
" Most often, spokesmen for mainstream science such as Sagan, Asimov,
Gardner, and Oberg have not expressed their criticisms using valid
arguments but, rather, tend to substitute polemic, ridicule, and
caricature for serious discussion. The resulting performances are riddled
with errors and are received by Velikovskian partisans with diminished
credibility. Their fixation on Velikovsky's text to the exclusion of later
researchers in /Pensee/ and KRONOS has also been a source of frustration.
As a result, focus has been shifted away from substantive criticism in
depth with more cogent criticisms having gotten side-tracked."^[11]
Ellenberger's most widely read criticisms of Velikovsky were two 1985
correspondences to /Nature/: "Falsifying Velikovsky" vol. 316, p.
386,^[12] and "Velikovsky's evidence?" vol. 318, p. 204, and two 1987
letters to the editor in New York /Times/: May 15, p. 14,^[13] and August
29, p. 14.^[14] The second /Times/ letter was rebutted by Clark Whelton in
a letter published September 29.^[15] Although the /Times/ did not print
Ellenberger's point-by-point surrebuttal to Whelton's letter,^[16] it was
distributed (a) privately by mail with the September 1, 1987 "Dear
Friends" letter^[17] and (b) to all attendees at the August 1990
"Reconsidering Velikovsky" Conference in Toronto.
In 1994, Ellenberger was disinvited from a conference on Velikovsky
because other participants said they would not attend if he
participated.^[18] ^[19] This incident was instigated by the same group
who in 1992 had deleted the section "Magnetism, Dynamos and Neptune"^[20]
from Ellenberger's invited memoir for /Aeon/^[21] that explained the
ignorance of Velikovsky and many of his supporters concerning the role of
electromagnetism in astronomy and the origin of planetary magnetic fields.
Previously, he was an invited speaker at Milton Zysman's August 1990
"Reconsidering Velikovsky" Conference at University of Toronto, identified
on the program as "Velikovsky's most unrelenting critic" who was
interviewed for /The Globe and Mail/^[22], and he was the keynote speaker
at the August 1992 Canadian Society for Interdisciplinary Studies
conference in Haliburton, Ontario. He is also the author of the article
"Top Ten Reasons Why Velikovsky Is Wrong About /Worlds In Collision/"
which he says:
".. is based on 30 years exposure to Velikovsky's ideas which includes 8
years as an insider at the Velikovsky journal /Kronos/ (1978 - 1986),
confidant to Velikovsky (4/78 - 11/79), invited "Devil's Advocate" at
/Aeon/ ('88 - '91)^[23], and 13 years as a turncoat/critic interacting
with Velikovsky's defenders and/or successors at conferences, in private,
and in Usenet ('94 -'96) & list-serve forums."^[24]
Of these attempts to de-program Velikovsky's supporters, Henry Bauer noted
Ellenberger "has tried unceasingly but to little avail to have his former
colleagues acknowledge the accumulating evidence, for example, from
Greenland ice cores, that Velikovsky's claimed catastrophes did not in
fact occur."^[25] His resignation from Kronos as senior editor in December
1986 was acknowledged by Martin Gardner,^[26] who previously noted
Ellenberger's "vitriolic" letters defending Velikovsky.^[27] Regarding
Ellenberger's defection, /Skeptic/ editor Michael Shermer declared: "One
major strike against Velikovsky is that Leroy Ellenberger, a one-time
Velikovsky supporter, after stepping outside of the paradigm to examine
the evidence in a clearer light, now completely rejects all tenets of the
theory."^[28] Sagan biographer Keay Davidson credits Ellenberger "In my
experience" as "the single richest source of information on the Velikovsky
controversy."^[29] Astronomer Dennis Rawlins hails Ellenberger "the
world's top anti-Velikovsky expert".^[30] NASA astronomer David Morrison,
who has monitored the Velikovsky scene since 1972, has thanked Ellenberger
for helping "to look at these issues from the other side and to appreciate
how poorly the scientific critics communicated with the public."^[31]
Clube and Napier's model
Ellenberger came to accept Victor Clube and Bill Napier's model as a
scientifically valid and intellectually satisfying replacement for
Velikovsky-inspired models of recent, interplanetary catastrophism.
Astronomer David Morrison noted "In fact, the work of Clube and Napier
attracts many people who were once impressed by Velikovsky, such as Leroy
Ellenberger, at one time a member of the Velikovsky inner circle and now
one of the most outspoken critics of his current followers".^[32] Since
1990, Ellenberger has actively promoted Clube and Napier's model, now
named "coherent catastrophism",^[33] in articles for /Skeptic/,^[34] /C&C
Review/,^[35] and /Catastrophism and Ancient History,/^[36] letters to
editors,^[37] and postcard mailing campaigns to Velikovskians.^[38]
Notes
1. /Kronos/ Vol. X No. 3 (Summer 1985) p.24 "Contributors." Invited
defenses of Velikovsky were published in /Zetetic Scholar/, /Biblical
Archaeology Review/, /Astronomy/, and /Frontiers of Science/.
2. Ellenberger, C. Leroy (1979). Heretics, Dogmatists and Science's
Reception of New Ideas. /Kronos/ Vol. IV No. 4, pp. 60-74.
3. /Kronos/ Vol. IV No. 4 (Summer 1979) p. /Cover iii/ "Contributors."
4. For example, Ellenberger has had Velikovsky-related material published
in /Science Digest/, /New Leader/, /The Humanist/, /Industrial Research &
Development/, /Fate/, and the SIS /Review/, (ref: /Kronos/ Vol. IV No. 4
(Summer 1979) p. /Cover iii/ "Contributors"), and articles on other
subjects in /Analog/, /New Scientist/, /Penthouse/, /Science Digest/,
/Fate/ and /Pursuit/ (ref: /Kronos/ Vol. X No. 3 (Summer 1985) p.24
"Contributors"). In /Physics Today/ he rebutted Robert V. Gentry on
polonium halos (Dec. 1984, pp. 91-2) and on absolute dating (Mar. 1986,
pp. 152, 154).
5. Ellenberger, C. Leroy (1980). Oberg in Confusion. /Astronomy/ October,
pp. 26-28, replying to Oberg's Forum essay "Predictions in Collision" in
July issue and Ellenberger, Leroy (1981). Velikovsky Redux. /Astronomy/
February, p. 36, replying to Oberg's letter in December issue.
6. Ellenberger, Leroy (1992). Of Lessons, Legacies, and Litmus Tests: A
Velikovsky Potpourri (Part One). /Aeon/ *III*, 1. pp. 86-105.
7. Grazia, Alfred de (1984). /Cosmic Heretics/, Metron Publications,
Princeton, New Jersey. ISBN 0-940268-08-06. p. 372.
8. Bauer, Henry (1996). Editorial Prologue by Henry Bauer. /Journal of
Scientific Exploration/, *10* (4), 561.
9. Bauer, Henry H. (1996). VELIKOVSKY, IMMANUEL. in Stein, Gordon
(editor), /The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal/. Amherst, New York:
Prometheus Press. ISBN 1573920215. p. 783.
10. "C. Leroy Ellenberger - Medical Article Retrieval Specialist."
)
11. /Kronos/ Vol. X No. 1 (Fall 1984) "Still Facing Many Problems (Part
I)," pp. 87-102: showing that the evidence from the Worzel ash, tree
rings, and Greenland ice cores does not support /Worlds in Collision/.
12. Ellenberger, C. Leroy (1985). Falsifying Velikovsky (corresondence).
/Nature/, *316* p. 386: "SIR--In his review of Henry Bauer's /Beyond
Velikovsky/, Owen Gingerich observes: 'Although science cannot prove that
a Velikovskian scenario is impossible, it might well prove that it did not
happen'[1]. Although Gingerich selects Peter Huber's analysis of the
Babylonian Venus tablets for this purpose, they simply are not decisive
enough. Indeed, Rose and Vaughan's critique of Huber[2], to which
Gingerich alludes, is stronger than he allows. "The best evidence proving
Velikovsky's scenario did not happen is provided by Greenland's Dye 3 ice
core[3]. This core is continuous and datable by counting annual layers
back at least 7,200 years. Velikovsky's catastrophes /should/ have left
unequivocal markers in the ice. Not only are the expected heavy dust
layers absent, but volcanic acid fallout, identified with ancient
eruptions in the Velikovskian time frame, is comparable in amount to that
associated with single, recent eruptions[4]. This is not what would be
expected if catastrophes of the magnitude described by Velikovsky had
actually happened[5]. C. Leroy Ellenberger, 3929A Utah Street, St Louis,
Missouri 63116, USA [1] Gingerich, O. /Nature/ 314, 692-693 (1985). [2]
Rose, L.E. & Vaughan, R.C. /Kronos/ X:2, 1-12 (1985). [3] Dansgaard, W.
/et al./ /Science/ 218, 1273-1277 (1982). [4] Hammer, C.U. /et al./
/Nature/ 288, 230-235 (1980). [5] Ellenberger, C.L. /Kronos/ X:1, 97-102
(1984)."
13. Immanuel Velikovsky 40 Years Later: Not to Be Taken Seriously
14. Eruption That Destroyed Thera Left Crete's Civilization Intact; Theory
Also Exploded
15. Catastrophism Can Still Explain Earth's Changes
16. Whelton in Unordnung
17. Information on Velikovsky, posted to talk.origins 22 August 1997
18. Henry H. Bauer , /Science Or Pseudoscience:
magnetic healing, psychic phenomena, and other heterodoxies/ (2001)
University of Illinois Press, p.154, ISBN 0252026012 (Bauer's book
misreports the conference year as 1992.)
19. Ellenberger (1997). Hysterical Velikovskians Flee Own
Frankenstein-Mongoose! /DIO/, *7* (1), 30-33.
20. "Magnetism, Dynamos and Neptune" posted to sci.skeptic and
talk.origins by James J. Lippard, 25 Apr 1994, as an example of what
/Aeon/ considered unacceptable:
21. Ellenberger, Leroy (1992). Of Lessons, Legacies & Litmus Tests: A
Velikovsky Potpourri, Part 1. /Aeon/, *3* (1), 86-105.
22. Balsara, Nilu (1990). Earth a dangerous planet, writer warns. /The
Globe and Mail/, August 20, 1990.
23. Letter, David Talbott to C. Leroy Ellenberger,
August 31, 1988
24. "Top Ten Reasons Why Velikovsky Is Wrong About /Worlds In Collision/"
25. Bauer, Henry H. (1996). Velikovsky, Immanuel. In
Stein, Gordon (editor) (1996). /The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal,/
Prometheus Books. ISBN 1573920215, pp. 781-788.
26. Gardner, Martin (1988). /The New Age: Notes of
a Fringe-Watcher/, Prometheus Press. ISBN 087975432X. pp. 70-71.
27. Gardner, Martin (1981). /Science: Good, Bad,
and Bogus/, Avon Books. ISBN 0380617544 p. 386.
28. Shermer, Michael (1996). Sagan, Gould, and Velikovsky (review).
/Skeptic/, *4* (4), 107.
29. Davidson, Keay (1999). /Carl Sagan: A Life/, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN
0-471-25286-7 p. 470.
30. Rawlins, Dennis (2005). Backward Boobs at the American Astronomical
Society.
31. Morrison, David (2001). Velikovsky at Fifty: Cultures in Collision on
the Fringes of Science. /Skeptic/, *9* (1), 62-76; reprinted in Shermer,
Michael (editor) (2002). /The Skeptic Encyclopdia of Pseudoscience, Santa
Barbara, Calif. ISBN 1576076539. 473-488.
32. Morrison, David (1997). Is the Sky Falling? /Skeptical Inquirer/, *21*
(3), 22-28.
33. Asher, D.J., S.V.M. Clube, W.M. Napier and D.I. Steel (1994). Coherent
Catastrophism. /Vistas in Astronomy/, *38* (1), 1-27.
34. Ellenberger, Leroy (1995). An Antidote to Velikovskian Delusions.
/Skeptic/, *3* (4), 49-51. Posted to talk.origins, 2 Feb. 1996:
35. Ellenberger, C. Leroy (1992). Celestial Hazard vs. Celestial Fantasy.
/C&C Review, *XIV*, 41-4./
36. Ellenberger, C. Leroy (1990). Tisserand and a Trojan to the Rescue.
/Catastrophism and Ancient History/ *XII* (2), 206-18.
37. /The Sciences/, Jul/Aug 1991, p. 56; /Skeptic/ 1995, *4* (3), 22,
/Skeptical Inquirer/, Sep/Oct 1997, pp. 60-1, and /Discovering
Archaeology/, Sep/Oct 1999, pp. 6-7.
38. For example: 75 "To those interested in Velikovsky" dated Oct 24,
1990; 35 "A Guide to Velikovskian Studies", Jan 1991, 134 "Clube & Napier
Update", Aug 2, 1994; 311 "Dawn Behind the Dawn", Oct 23, 1995; and 150
"The Nexus of History & Religion with Astronomy", Apr 27, 1996.