Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List (Version 3.0; August 2003)

7. Immanuel Velikovsky and Worlds in Collision

A European psychiatrist and amateur scholar, Velikovsky touted the thesis that ancient religious writings record evidence of recent catastrophes in the solar system, including the bizarre idea that Venus was a comet disgorged by Jupiter in historic times. His writing were once very popular, but now only a small underground of true believers keeps his work alive.

Books and Articles:

Asimov, Isaac "Worlds in Confusion" in The Stars in their Courses. 1971, Doubleday.

Goldsmith, Donald, ed. Scientists Confront Velikovsky. 1977, Norton. Proceedings of a symposium at the 1974 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Gould, S. "Velikovsky in Collision" in Natural History, Mar. 1975.

Krupp, E. "Observatories of the Gods and Other Astronomical Fantasies" in Krupp, E.C., ed. In Search of Ancient Astronomies. 1977, Doubleday. Debunks von Daniken and Velikovsky's ideas, as well as the Sirius myth.

Morrison, David & Chapman, Clark "Catastrophism Gone Wild" in Cosmic Catastrophes. 1989, Plenum. Two noted astronomers examine our modern view of how impacts and other catastrophes have shaped the Earth, and, in the process, debunk Velikovsky's ideas.

Oberg, J., et al. "The Velikovsky Affair" in Skeptical Inquirer, Fall 1980. An update and review following Velikovsky's death.

Sagan, Carl "Venus and Dr. Velikovsky" in Broca's Brain. 1979, Random House. A superb refutation of Velikovsky's ideas.

Stiebing, William Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions. 1984, Prometheus. Examines Velikovsky's claims.

Web Sites:

Transcript of the 1974 AAAS Symposium: http://www.varchive.org/lec/aaas/transcripts.htm (A Velikovsky partisan offers a verbatim record of the session debating Velikovsky's views that forms the basis of the Goldsmith book, above. Note that Sagan's contribution was much expanded by the time it reached print.)

The Velikovsky Affair: http://www.jerrypournelle.com/science/velikovsky.htm Science fiction writer Pournelle offers commentary, background, and a nice essay by astronomer David Morrison entitled "Velikovsky at 50", which updates some of Sagan's 1974 arguments.

Antidote to Velikovskian Delusions: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/velidelu.html Former Velikovsky disciple turned critic Leroy Ellenberger marshals the arguments against the worlds in collision proposals.

Ten 10 Reasons Velikovsky is Wrong: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/vdtopten.html (Good summary of Ellenberger's arguments.)

Skeptical Dictionary: http://skepdic.com/velikov.html

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