5.11: What about Velikovsky? (Creation versus Evolution)
Description
This article is from the Scientific Skepticism FAQ, by Paul Johnson Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk with numerous contributions by others.
5.11: What about Velikovsky? (Creation versus Evolution)
In the 1950s a Russian psychologist named Immanuel Velikovsky wrote
"Worlds in Collision". This book and its successors are remarkable
for the density of scientific, archeological and mythological howlers.
There are far too many to list here, but most are sufficient to cast
serious doubt on his knowledge of any of these fields, and many are so
large that even one is enough to refute the entire theory.
Much of Velilovsky's proof lies in statements of the form "The reason
for <X> is not known. My theory explains it as follows:". Many of
these reasons were in fact known when Velikovsky wrote, and many
others have been discovered since. None of these reasons bear any
relationship to Velikovksy's theory. The predictive value of the
theory appears to be nil.
The books lack any mathematical analysis at all, which is strange
considering that mathematics is the language of science, especially
physics and astronomy.
Some of the more noticeable howlers are:
1: Strange orbits which cannot be explained in terms of Newtonian
mechanics (or indeed anything less than an angel sitting on a
planet and steering it like a starship!).
2: The Earth's spin being altered suddenly by a close encounter with
Venus, and then restored. Where to begin? Planets just don't do
that.
3: A confusion between hydrocarbons (e.g petrol, mineral oil, tar) and
carbohydrates (e.g sugar, starch, glucose).
4: World-shaking events (literally) which Velikovsky assumes were
accurately recorded by the Israelites but not even noticed anywhere
else, even quite close by.
5: Ancient records (e.g Mayan, Sumerian and Chinese astronomical
observations) which contradict Velikovsky's theory.
Velikovsy's supporters often cite a conspiracy theory to explain why
the world of science refuses to take these ideas seriously. See
section 0 of this FAQ.
For more information, see:
Worlds in Collision
Immanuel Velikovsky
Earth in Upheaval
Immanuel Velikovsky
Velikovsky Reconsidered
The Editors of Pensee
(has a lot of his papers in it, along with other papers pro-V.)
Scientists Confront Velikovsky
Donald Goldsmith
Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy
Henry H. Bauer
Broca's Brain
Carl Sagan
Jim Meritt <jmeritt@mitre.org> has posted a long article on
talk.origins which systematically demolishes Velikovsky's ideas. I
don't know if it is archived anywhere. This section attempts to
summarise it. Most discussion of Velikovsky occurs on talk.origins.
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