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350 results found.
35 pages of results. 331. Pleiongaea: A Myth for all Seasons [Journals] [Aeon]
... century involves the simultaneous settling of mud and silt along with the conversion of animal and plant matter into petroleum under anaerobic conditions over some millions of years. However, over the past hundred years we've found so much oil, and suspect the presence of many times more potential deposits than what we've located so far, that there ain't been enough dinosaurs and plants to give their all for even a fraction of the amount recoverable. Just a few years ago a retired Texaco research engineer, Leon P. Gaucher, published what I consider the best answer to date on this problem with his "Petroleum Genesis." (3 ) Gaucher surmised- quite correctly in my view- that ...
332. The Jewish Science of Immanuel Velikovsky: Part One [Journals] [Aeon]
... gone even further in that direction. Semioticians, structuralists, and hermeneuticians have all concentrated upon the overriding importance of understanding texts and artifacts in very literal ways in order to gain genuine insight into human affairs. Scientifically orthodox advocates of "punctuated equilibrium" within the evolutionary process and of cometary causes of terrestrial life and of the extinction of the dinosaurs have gained a large measure of acceptance from their more uniformitarian-minded peers. Astronomers who have studied cosmic electromagnetism and geologists who have investigated anomalous earth formations have quietly pursued their research with no more than the usual academic cavil. Merely by dropping one of the zeros from Plato's date for the destruction of Atlantis, serious investigators have been allowed to ...
333. The Saturn Thesis: Questions and Answers [Journals] [Aeon]
... , his Earth in Upheaval is a very significant work, and much of it still holds up well today. And of course the idea that the Earth has suffered catastrophic changes, with the sudden extermination of whole species, is much more acceptable today than it was when Velikovksy wrote. Now we see scientists openly discussing the extinction of the dinosaurs by cometary catastrophe; we see the British astronomers Victor Clube and Bill Napier proposing catastrophes that sound very much like Velikovsky's comet Venus disaster, except they've replaced the Venus comet with the known comet Encke. And even more recently, with the cometary impacts on Jupiter, the question is being asked with a new seriousness: could it happen ...
334. The Milky Way [Journals] [Aeon]
... to avoid similar errors? There is only one way to disentangle the web of confusion which currently distinguishes the burgeoning science of archaeoastronomy: a revaluation of all values, to paraphrase Nietzsche. The ancient cosmos must needs be reconstructed from the countless bits and pieces of ancient myth, ritual, and art, not unlike a paleontologist would reconstruct a dinosaur from a few teeth and bones. All-important here is the comparative method. Only by comparing traditions from around the world is it possible to discover archetypal patterns of historical significance and avoid being misled by local, artificial accretions. In this way, and in this way alone, will it be possible to reconstruct the ancient cosmos. And ...
335. Book Shelf [Journals] [Aeon]
... (25.38 days), but this would not help the authors' case. Patten & Windsor may have been influenced by David Raup's proposal of a "dark star," that he called Nemesis, on a very elongated orbit which was supposed to threaten the inner Solar System periodically and was indirectly responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs. The authors propose an extension of this scenario in which a dark companion star of our Sun (which they dub "Little Brother") has an entourage of planets in highly distorted orbits. Little Brother delivers its menagerie to old Sol in one or several close fly-bys of the Sun. The planetary alignments take place during the long ...
336. Book Shelf [Journals] [Aeon]
... 6 ) There are several matters upon which I would take issue with Deloria. His disbelief in the phenomenon of biological evolution, for example, mars his appeal to reason. Confronted with the prominence of monsters and "thunderbirds" in ancient Indian lore, Deloria tends to believe that Native peoples may have been around at the time of the dinosaurs. This is certainly an exciting possibility, but I was not convinced by any of his examples. Indeed, I would interpret the traditions otherwise. The "thunderbird", like the flying dragon, is a global motif and would seem to represent a celestial phenomenon, one with catastrophic overtones, no less. Elsewhere the attempt is ...
337. ...more Myths Monuments and Mnemonics: A Visit To Easter Island [Journals] [Horus]
... to explain collective myths of cosmic disorder. Yet the straightforward interpretation that common ideas about celestial cataclysm resulted from common human experience has struggled against decades of scientific opposition. [Some of the reasons for this historical bias are discussed in Alex Marton's article, this issue.] Some scientific thinking has turned in this direction - the age of the dinosaurs now is theorized to have ended in catastrophe caused by a comet - but to imagine events of similar magnitude in historical times has remained a generally unacceptable thought, especially among astronomers. Only the most adventurous recently have agreed that celestial disorders do seem to be the best explanation for these otherwise incomprehensible tales. The idea still is resisted vigorously ...
338. How To Defuse A Feud [Journals] [Kronos]
... 9 ) is attested by its favorable mention in two recent articles. Tom Bethell is concerned with the resurgence of catastrophism and the leftist world view. Richard de Mille presents a thoroughly engaging perspective on the creation-evolution controversy. When Bethell attended the recent AAAS meeting in Washington, he was impressed by how warmly science was embracing the idea that the dinosaurs became extinct after an asteroid crashed into Earth about 65 million years ago. Noting the parallel between this theory and Velikovsky's, Bethell observes: "If your theory happens to be out of synch with fashion (as Velikovsky's collision theories were 30 years ago), then it really doesn't matter how many facts you amass, you will simply ...
339. Alternatives in Science: The Secular Creationism of Heribert Nilsson [Journals] [Kronos]
... history of the earth, there is nothing exceptional about the Cretaceous period of that evolution. The invocation of a hiatus in orogeny, of worldwide transgressions or of great external catastrophe (Urey 1973) are entirely unnecessary to explain the known facts; . . . to account for apparent disharmonies such as the origin of angiosperms, the extinction of dinosaurs and other organisms, or the existence of chalk deposition. (Hughes 1976: 70) And with this reference to Harold Urey we are back where we began - with Jueneman's lament. Secular catastrophism is usually lost sight of in the brawl between the champions of Darwin and Moses, and when it is recognized to exist we find that ...
340. Karl Popper and Evolutionary Theory (Vox Populi) [Journals] [Kronos]
... 3 (5 ), (May 1982), pp. 89-90. "[ H ] notes that Immanuel Velikovsky (Worlds in Collision) gave catastrophism a bad name with his theories about the planet Venus brushing past Earth in historic times. But then Hitching himself sullies the name further by suggesting a Velikovsky-like event that may have ended the dinosaurs' reign: going beyond the established fact that the Earth's magnetic field has reversed, he cites an unfounded theory of British physicist and mathematician Peter Warlow that the planet may have tipped upside down - knocked over like a spinning top by a large asteroid." Editor's Comment: Davis' review conveyed a sense of bravado appropriate to the ...
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