Velikovsky Immanuel - Worlds in Collision

8/12/2019 Velikovsky Immanuel - Worlds in Collision

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Worlds In CollisionImmanuel Velikovsky

New, unchanged edition (2009).Published by Paadigma !td."iginal edition (#9$0) by %oubleday & 'omany, Inc., aden 'ity, New *ok.I+N 9-/#/9011/##/

'oected & e3omatted 3o 4indle by Paa!a555au, 6ach 20#2.777777777777777777777777777777

8"!%+ IN '"!!I+I"N(%oubleday & 'omany, Inc., aden 'ity, New *ok):his book by Immanuel Velikovsky ceated a 3uo all ove the wold when it was ublishedin ;il o3 #9$0, a 3uo that has not yet subsided. ; camaign was caied on to ceate the

imession that the ess o3 this county had e

N. *. =?;!% :I@N?, Aohn A. "BNeill> %. Immanuel Velikovsky has assembled into amonumental wok evidence 3om all the ealy civili5ations that in the 3ist and secondmillennium . '. temendous teestial cataclysms took lace. In a magni3icent iece o3scholaly histoical eseach, thee un3olds a most eCciting ictue o3 teestial events thataises wold histoy to a level o3 suelative inteest. "bscue allusions to events in classicaland saced liteatue become cystal clea as he 3its togethe the Philosohy, science, eligion / thee is scacely anaea o3 knowledge o conviction invulneable to %. VelikovskyBs detailed and documenteddenial that the ?athBs histoy has been one o3 eace3ul evolution ... inging to thisesective all the aaatus o3 leaning, %. Velikovsky has undetaken the awesome tasko3 making an EinFuiy into the achitectonics o3 the wold and its histoyE and o3 alyingthe techniFues o3 scholashi and sychoanalysis to the entie human ace.

?;%?B+ %I?+:, Gulton "usle> ; single schola has sought a synthesis o3 knowledgeand eason in the 3ield o3 science, legend and eligion. :he esult is a theoy o3 eathBshistoy as a lanet, 3ascinating as a tale by Aules Vene, yet documented with a scholashiwothy o3 %awin.

'"!!I?B+, ?dito> E8olds in 'ollisionE omises to be one o3 the most contovesial bookso3 the yea, ehas o3 the decade ... :emendous volume o3 eseach amassed by theautho ove a eiod o3 ten yeas. ;lthough the theoies %. Velikovsky eCesses ae cetainto ovoke debate, ominent scienti3ic and eligious leades have 3ound them mosteCtaodinay.

N?8+8??4> Velikovsky, a boad/gauge savant with an incedible 3ield o3 cometence in thesciences ... con3ims the ible ... =is 3inal conclusions ae even wold/shaking ... I3VelikovskyBs monumental wok stands, it will uset evailing views in evolution, hysical


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science and histoy.

N?8+8??4, EPo3essos as +uessosE> ;lthough some o3 the citics who eviewedVelikovskyBs book consideed it a ma E!et them disove the histoical ecods on whichmy book is based.E

N?8 ?P@!I', =aold !. Ickes> %. Velikovsky has con3eed a geat boon uon all o3 us.=e has given us something to think aboutH something even to ay about ... Pehas weshall have sense enough to ut ou heads between ou hands and do some eal thinkingabout univesal and lasting eace.

""4/"G/:=?/6"N:= '!@ N?8+, Aohn A. "BNeill> I3 you want an intellectual It sots u an unusual aoach


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to some o3 the woldBs geat oblems. ;n astounding 3eat o3 eseach ... an ama5ing list o3souces. In assembling those oo3s %. Velikovsky has lunged headlong into a do5endi33eent sciences and has dug deely into the oots o3 many. %. Velikovsky, eali5ing theimact o3 his thesis, has gone to vey geat lengths to eveal his method so that it may beseached in detail ... ;lthough the oening imact o3 this theoy / due to its sensationalnatue / is cetain to aouse violent hostility, even this 3eeling will be set aside as it isseached and obed 3o eos and tuths.

+;:@%;* ?V?NIN P"+:, ?ditoial> "ne o3 the most astonishing eisodes was the e33oto3 ;meican scientists to suess a book, 8olds in 'ollision... %octo VelikovskyBs o33enseseems to be that he wites bette than most scientists and in his book eCounds a theoy o3astonomical activity which di33es widely 3om othodoC theoies ... +o the othodoCscientists, 3ogetting about alileo, and the long, woe3ul stuggle o3 scientists to be 3ee o3dogma, acted like the authoitaians with whom they ae continually in con3lict ... Not evena silly season ought to eCcuse scientists 3o book buning. ;3te all, they ae always the chie3victims o3 this kind o3 intoleance.

P;:=GIN%?> :o/3light scientists think E8olds in 'ollisionE will 3oce econsideation o3

the basic ostulates o3 many ma :he cental thesis o3 this book is stuendous. %. Velikovsky, whoseems to be a veitable encycloedia o3 leaning, daws uon all the sciences and ats tobuttess his thesis.

N. *. +@N%;* 6I" 6;;DIN?, =. 8illiam +mith> E8olds in 'ollisionE esentsaguments to ove that 3amous colossal miacles o3 ancient times, as elated in 3olkloeand eligious liteatue, actually haened. ;s Velikovsky sees it, ou aaently well/odeed univese is like a 3iewoks 3actoy which an eatic sak may eClode any minute.:he omulgation o3 this thesis is eCected to eCcite heated ob E8olds in 'ollisionE is aising such a tei3ic 3uo inscienti3ic cicles that we donBt see how a newsae which claims to be on its toes canignoe the book o dodge 3om 3ank discussion o3 it. %. Velikovsky, a widely/tavelledschola and scienti3ic investigato, o33es a 3lock o3 theoies which make othodoC scientists3oam at the mouth. =eJ challenges them to ove him mistaken. I3 we might esume too33e the seicnti3ic bothehood a ti, it would be to get busy tying to disove Velikovskywith 3acts and 3igues, and lay o33 tying to omote boycotts aimed at his book.

N. *. A"@N;! & ;6?I';N, eoge ?. +okolsky> 'etain scientists theatened with aboycott. "3 couse, what the leaned and libeal o3essos wanted was the total

suession o3 a book which ooses thei dogma. +cientists tend to become dogmatic liketheologians, whom they denounce as dogmatic.

N. *. +@N%;* '"6P;++, :ed. ". :hackey> :hee is eCcellent gound 3o suggesting that%. VelikovskyBs 3indings thus 3a may well ank him in contemoay and 3utue histoywith alileo, Newton, Planck, 4ele, %awin, ?instein, and the othe geat intellects whohave in tun bade us evise ou theoies o3 what the wold is like and what laws goven itand its elation to the univese.


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"+:"N !"?, 6aion !. +takey> Pobably the most stimulating hoo stoy that haseve been witten. :hee is something o3 oety, o3 divine "nly a geneation o3 time and e/eCamination o3 the evidenceesented by Velikovsky will show whethe he is meely a billiant imovise o a o3ounddiscovee o3 a new incile. :he challenge that Velikovsky esents to modem science mayaccomlish something moe 3o the toubled and 3ightened eole o3 the wold than uttingthei scienti3ic house in ode, howeve. It may give a death blow to the gowing sketicismo3 many eole whose 3aith in the %ivine 'eato had been shaken in the name o3 scienti3icenlightenment by the debunkes o3 the holy books.

N. *. :I6?+ ""4 ?VI?8, %avid %emsey> ;mong geneal non/3iction, E8olds in'ollisionE was being outsold by only one book / the ible. :he eicente o3 a liteay

eathFuake.

P=I!;%?!P=I; INK@I?> Aohn 6. 6c'ullough> Gew books have so stied the wold o3thought3ul menH the aguments o and con inevitably must evebeate though leanedsocieties 3o months to come. It is this / its ole as a otent 3ement in a wold o3 not toosettled thought / which imbues E8olds in 'ollisionE with its eal signi3icance.

PI::+@= P?++, Gloence Gishe Pey> It is moe 3ascinating eading than anything tobe 3ound on any 3iction table. It is absolutely oiginal and convincing.

'=I';" =?;!%/;6?I';N> ; 3abulous stoy ... :his book is evolutionay and mayove almost as wold/shaking as i3 Venus had changed he settings again. It is witten sothat any one can undestand.

'=I';" +@N/:I6?+, ?mmett %edmonH E8olds in 'ollisionE is clealy witten and well/enough buttessed with data to statle any eade into a e/eCamination o3 his ideas aboutthe wold. ;nd I eCect it may ovoke one o3 the biggest aguments since ?instein said theshotest distance between two oints was a cuved line.

:=? '?++?:, 'hicago, III., ?win A. uis> +eldom has one theoy eCtended into so many3ields o3 human thought and dawn on so many 3o its evidence ... E8olds in 'ollisionEesents such an aay o3 evidence that it cannot be ignoed, while the high degee o3scholashi evident thoughout the book does not emit deisive dismissal. 8itten in non/

technical language, layman and scientist will 3ind it 3ascinating.

;!:I6"? ?V?NIN +@N> Velikovsky has built a owe3ul case 3o the contention thatthose accounts e3lect occuences which did actually take lace ... ;nd science does not yethave any way o3 its own to eClain these E6iacles.E

'!?V?!;N% P?++, :om oadman> ItBs a book that will be discussed, studied, challengedand de3ended 3o many yeas.


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%;!!;+ :I6?+/=?;!%, 4enneth =oan> +tatling, astounding, ama5ing and entielyevolutionay stoy o3 the univese.

+;N ;N:"NI" ?LP?++, =eny =. !awence> ; book o3 absobing inteest and one boundto eCcite discussion and 3uthe elucidation 3o yeas to come.

P":!;N% A"@N;!, !ay =owes> It can be undestood and agued about by laymen, andit blacks the eye o3 %ogmatic +cience.

P":!;N% "?"NI;N> ; high ecentage o3 those whose 3ields ae invaded and thei3acts Fuestioned may be eCected to ise to the challenge. :he minds that will be stimulatedby this book ae the woldBs best. 8ho knows what may come o3 thatM

P":!;N% (6e.) :?!?;6, 4. 8. ey> I3 the theoy set 3oth by Velikovsky stands theacid test to which it undoubtedly will be sub +uely Immanuel Velikovsky has witten so contovesial abook that it will be the sub *ou ae likely to hea itdebated 3uiously ... 8hethe youBe an eCet on the sub "nce in a geat while you may be 3otunateenough to come acoss a tuly ama5ing book. :his is 3a moe than that / it may wellbecome a bible. =is descitions will make you sine tingle as it neve has be3oe. ;ctually,this book is as easy to ead as a westen and much moe eCciting.

:?NN?++??;N, Nashville, :enn., 'hales !. Gontenay> :he tem EevolutionayE is all too3eFuently alied to books in these days when a coule o3 months seems to be the


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"4!;="6; 'I:* "4!;="6;N, ;lice =ughes> %inne tables in ou wa/ Gascinating alike in its stuendous ictues o3 a wold inthe gi o3 cosmic 3oces, in its aallels dawn 3om the annals o3 the ancients in manylands, and its vast imlications.

:=? :I6?+, !ondon> %. Velikovsky is a man o3 much leaning and he has masteed thecommentaies uon the teCt and all books on cosmology as well. ... :he bookBsJ eutationhas been ... enhanced by dak stoies o3 scientists allegedly alying essue by boycotting

the teCt book deatment o3 the authoBs 3ist ublishing house in a 3en5ied e33ot toevent the destuction o3 thei own eutation and o3 othodoC hysics.

!;+"8 %;I!* ?'"%, lasgow, +cotland> igantic, sensational, staggeing.

6?:="%I+: ?'"%?, !ondon, ?ngland> ; thille that is suely without a ee.

A?8I+= '="NI'!?, !ondon, %, +ilvestone> Go one schola to have witten this book,necessitating as it does an encycloedic knowledge o3 science, histoy, and 3olkloe, is aemakable achievement. It meits close study on the at o3 scientistsH and it will ewadthe odinay eade with 3ascinating hous o3 mental en :he stength o3 his evidence is geat. It is a tuly wonde3ulbook.

;?%??N P?++, ;bedeen, +cotland> Pobably no book in ou geneation has caused somuch contovesy ... In the scienti3ic wold it caused a veitable eClosion o3 bad teme.

'"66?'I;! ;PP?;!, 6emhis> E8olds in 'ollisionE has oened new debate in science.?33ots have been made to dismiss this wok by calling it EubbishE and EnonsenseE but thiswill not answe the evidence he has comiled. It is a 3oegone conclusion that the book willcall 3o enewed investigation 3om othes o3 the 3acts so long acceted. I3 it does no moe,the autho has endeed a noble sevice to his o3ession and to his 3ellow men.

:""N:" +;:@%;* NI=:, ?ditoial> :he ;meican scienti3ic wold has gone though acataclysm almost as violent as those e3eed to by %. Velikovsky.

'=I+:I;N '?N:@*, 8. ?. aison> :he book is eCciting eading. :he two 8ellses (=..and "son) might have collaboated to conceive it.

'=I+:I;N +'I?N'? 6"NI:", oston> :his vei3ication o3 the ible seems to us o3 ealimotance. It shows what ae sometimes called EmiaclesE to be not violations o3 law but


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'"N:?N:+O ;uthoBs Pe3ace (#9$)O ;uthoBs Pe3ace (#9$0)

Pologue'ha(te #O In an Immense @niveseO :he 'elestial =amonyO :he "igin o3 the Planetay +ystemO :he "igin o3 the 'omets

'ha(te 2O :he Planet ?athO Ice ;gesO :he 6ammothsO :he Ice ;ge and the ;ntiFuity o3 6anO :he 8old ;gesO :he +un ;ges

Pat /// Venus'ha(te #O :he 6ost Incedible +toyO "n the "the +ide o3 the "cean

'ha(te 2O Gi3ty/:wo *eas ?alieO :he ed 8oldO :he =ail o3 +tonesO NahthaO :he %aknessO ?athFuakeO E#1E

'ha(te 1O :he =uicaneO :he :ideO :he attle in the +kyO :he 'omet o3 :yhonO :he +ak


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O :he 'ollased +ky

'ha(te O oiling ?ath and +eaO 6ount +inai

O :heohanyO ?meo *ahou

'ha(te $O ?ast and 8estO :he evesed Polaity o3 the ?athO :he Kuates o3 the 8old %islacedO 'hanges in the :imes and the +easons

'ha(te O :he +hadow o3 %eathO ;mbosiaO ives o3 6ilk and =oneyO Aeicho

'ha(te -O +tones +usended in the ;iO PhathonO ;tlantisO :he Gloods o3 %eucalion and "gyges

'ha(te .O :he Gi3ty/:wo *ea PeiodO AubileeO :he ith o3 VenusO :he la5ing +taO :he Gou/Planet +ystemO "ne o3 the Planets is a 'ometO :he 'omet Venus

'ha(te 9O Pallas ;theneO Deus and ;theneO 8oshi o3 the 6oning +taO :he +aced 'owO aal Devuv (eel5ebub)O Venus in the Golkloe o3 the Indians


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'ha(te #0O :he +ynodical *ea o3 VenusO Venus 6oves IegulalyO Venus ecomes the 6oning +ta

Pat 2 /// 6as'ha(te #O ;mosO :he *ea /--O IsaiahO :he ;give :yantsO ;gain IsaiahO 6aimonides and +ino5a, the ?Cegetes

'ha(te 2O :he *ea /-O Ignis e 'oeloO 6ach 21d

O :he 8oshi o3 6asO 6as 6oves the ?ath 3om Its Pivot

'ha(te 1O 8hat 'aused Venus and 6as to +hi3t :hei "bitsMO 8hen 8as the Iliad 'eatedMO =uit5iloochtliO :aoO *uddhaO :he undahisO !uci3e 'ut %own

'ha(te O +wod/od

O Genis/8ol3O +wod/:ime, 8ol3/:imeO +ynodosO :he +tome o3 the 8alls

'ha(te $O :he +teeds o3 6asO :he :eible "nes


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O +amles 3om the PlanetsO :he ;changelsO Planet 8oshi in Audea in the +eventh 'entuy

'ha(te O ; 'ollective ;mnesiaO GolkloeO "3 EPeeCisting IdeasE in the +ouls o3 PeolesO :he Pageants o3 the +kyO :he +ub


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Pe3ace #9$ (to the aeback edition o3 8olds in 'ollision)GI+: P@!I+=?% IN #9$0, this book was le3t unchanged in all subseFuent intingsH #nohave any teCtual changes been made in this aebound edition. :his was so by designH Iwished to kee the teCt in its oiginal 3om in ode that, unadulteed, it should 3ace allsubseFuent discoveies in the 3ields it coves o touches uon. +hould thee have been any

changes, the eade o3 a new edition would be unable to EIs it likely that any astonishing new develoments ae lying in wait 3o usM Isit ossible that the cosmology o3 $00 yeas hence will eCtend as 3a beyond ou esentbelie3s as ou cosmology goes beyond that o3 NewtonME ;nd he continued> EI doubt whethethis will be so. I am eaed to believe that thee will be many advances in the detailedundestanding o3 mattes that still ba33le us ... ut by and lage I think that ou esentictue will tun out to bea an aoCimately esemblance to the cosmologies o3 the3utue,E and he e3eed to the limitations o3 otical means in enetating the deths o3sace.:he yeas that have assed since the ublication o3 8olds in 'ollisionhave seen the 3istgeat achievements in adio astonomy, the discoveies o3 the Intenational eohysical*ea, and the dawn o3 the sace age. :he ictue has changed comletely. +igns o3 ecentviolence, disution, and 3agmentation have been obseved on eath and elsewhee in thesola system> a submaine gigantic canyon that uns almost twice aound the globe / a signo3 a global twistH a laye o3 ash o3 eCtateestial oigin undelying all oceansH aleomagneticevidence that the magnetic oles wee suddenly and eeatedly evesed and, it is claimed,the teestial aCis with themH gases escaing 3om some cates on the moon, thought to becold to its centeH an eCceedingly high su3ace heat o3 Venus. Guthemoe, with thediscovey o3 adio signals coming 3om Auite, o3 the eCistence o3 a magnetoshee

suounding the eath, o3 the sola lasma, o3 the net chage on the sun and o3 themagnetic 3ield emeating the intelanetay sace, decisive evidence has come u that thesola system, and the univese in geneal, ae not electomagnetically steile / a basicchange in the undestanding o3 the univese, its natue and the 3oces active in it.:he wods 3ound in the Pe3ace to the #9$0 edition, designating the wok as heesy in theealms whee the names o3 Newton and %awin eign sueme, should no longe evoke thesame sontaneous e


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E:he ases o3 VenusE and E:he :hemal alance o3 VenusE immediately eceding thesection E:he ?ndE. +hould I be ight in these claims, the entie chain o3 deductions / o3which the identi3ication o3 the eCtateestial agent o3 the aoCysms descibed is but the3inal ing / is stengthened. ;nd since these cucial claims wee in such 3lagant discodwith acceted values, in case o3 con3imation they ought not to be denoted as lucky guesses.;s late as #9$9, VenusB gound temeatue was calculated to be only #-Q', thee degeesabove the mean annual temeatue o3 the ?ath. ut by #9#, 3om the natue o3 the adiosignals emitted by Venus, it was 3ound that VenusB gound temeatue is about 1#$Q', o00QG. %. G. %. %ake o3 the National adio ;stonomy "bsevatoy, esonsible 3o thiseading, wote> E8e should have eCected a temeatue only slightly geate than theeath,E and the 3ind was Ea suise ... in a 3ield in which the 3ewest suises weeeCected.E:hee was admittedly no satis3actoy eClanation o3 such high temeatue o3 Venus in the3ame o3 eCected notions. eenhouse e33ect could not eClain so high a temeatue, notcould adioactivity decaying 3o billions o3 yeas. :he 6aine II, the sace vehicle thatassed Venus in %ecembe #92, was instumented to detect whethe the heat is eal andas high as 00QG. It 3ound it eal and a 3ull 00QG. It 3ound also, that the night side o3 Venusis, i3 anything, hotte than the day side and that light does not enetate the cloud cove. It

must be gloomy and bleak unde this cove, it is stated in the 6aine eot by the AetPoulsion !aboatoyH vey little geenhouse e33ect could eali5e itsel3 unde suchconditions.:he othe cucial test concened the gaseous enveloe o3 the lanet. In #9, 3ou yeasbe3oe the ublication o3 this book, I diected a eFuest and inFuiy to Po3esso . 8ildt o3*ale and the late Po3esso 8. +. ;dams o3 6ount 8ilson and Paloma obsevatoies,3oemost authoity on the sub E:he absotion sectum o3 VenusB atmoshee cannot be inteetedas esulting 3om gaseous hydocabons.E ;dams answeed (+etembe 9, #9)> E:hee isno evidence o3 the esence o3 hydocabon gas in the atmoshee o3 Venus.EI must have been comletely 3im in my belie3 o3 not having made a wong deduction / 3omthe 3ist emise o3 global catastohe to the last one, o3 identi3ying the agent / to havechosen to int, in disegad o3 the eCet oinions> E"n the basis o3 this eseach, I assumethat Venus must be ich in etoleum gases.E"n Gebuay 2, #91, making known the esults o3 the 6aine obe, %. =one Newello3 N;+; announced that, in the


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is in the 3act that things which we 3ind easy to instil into the boys at school R things whichwould stike us as the odinay natual way o3 looking at the univese R de3eated thegeatest intellects 3o centuies.E:he ;utho (#9$)777777777777777777777777777777# y the summe o3 #9 #$ had/cove intings in the @nited +tates , and # in eat itain2 8aen 8eave> E:he Ime3ections o3 +cienceE, Poc. "3 the ;me. Philos. +oc., "ct. #-, #90.

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Pe3ace #9$08"9!%+ IN '"!!I+I"Nis a book o3 was in the celestial shee that took lace in histoicaltimes. In these was the lanet eath aticiated too. :his book descibes two acts o3 ageat dama> one that occued thity/3ou to thity/3ive centuies ago, in the middle o3 thesecond millennium be3oe the esent eaH the othe in the eighth and the beginning o3 theseventh centuy be3oe the esent ea, twenty/siC centuies ago. ;ccodingly, this volumeconsists o3 two ats, eceded by a ologue.=amony o stability in the celestial and teestial shees is the oint o3 deatue o3 the

esent/day concet o3 the wold as eCessed in the celestial mechanics o3 Newton and thetheoy o3 evolution o3 %awin. I3 these two men o3 science ae sacosanct, this book is aheesy. =oweve, moden hysics, o3 atoms and o3 the Fuantum theoy, descibes damaticchanges in the micocosm / the atom / the ototye o3 the sola systemH a theoy, then,that envisages not dissimila events in the macocosm / the sola system / bings themoden concets o3 hysics to the celestial shee.:his book is witten 3o the instucted and uninstucted alike. No 3omula and nohieoglyhic will stand in the way o3 those who set out to ead it. I3, occasionally, histoicalevidence does not sFuae with 3omulated laws, it should be emembeed that a law is but adeduction 3om eCeience and eCeiment, and thee3oe laws must con3om with histoical3acts, not 3acts with laws.:he eade is not asked to accet a theoy without Fuestion. athe, he is invited to

conside 3o himsel3 whethe he is eading a book o3 3iction o non/3iction, whethe what heis eading is invention o histoical 3act. "n one oint alone, not necessaily decisive 3o thetheoy o3 cosmic catastohism, I boow cedence> I use a synchonical scale o3 ?gytianand =ebew histoies which is not othodoC.It was in the sing o3 #90 that I came uon the idea that in the days o3 the ?Codus, asevident 3om many assages o3 the +citues, thee occued a geat hysical catastohe,and that such an event could seve in detemining the time o3 the ?Codus in ?gytianhistoy o in establishing a synchonical scale 3o the histoies o3 the eoles concened.:hus I stated;ges in 'haos, a econstuction o3 the histoy o3 the ancient wold 3om themiddle o3 the second millennium be3oe the esent ea to the advent o3 ;leCande theeat. ;leady in the 3all o3 that same yea, #90, I 3elt that I had acFuied an

undestanding o3 the eal natue and eCtent o3 that catastohe, and 3o nine yeas I wokedon both o


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I3 cosmic uheavals occued in the histoical ast, why does not the human ace emembethem, and why was it necessay to cay on eseach to 3ind out about themM I discuss thisoblem in the +ection E:he 'ollective ;mnesia.E :he task I had to accomlish was notunlike that 3aced by a sychoanalyst who, out o3 disassociated memoies and deams,econstucts a 3ogotten taumatic eCeience in the ealy li3e o3 an individual. In ananalytical eCeiment on mankind, histoical inscitions and legenday moti3s o3ten laythe same ole as ecollections (in3antile memoies) and deams in the analysis o3 aesonality.'an we, out o3 this olymohous mateial, establish actual 3actsM 8e shall check oneeole against anothe, one inscition against anothe, eics against chats, geologyagainst legends, until we ae able to eCtact the histoical 3acts.In a 3ew cases it is imossible to say with cetainty whethe a ecod o a tadition e3es toone o anothe catastohe that took lace though the agesH it is also obable that in sometaditions vaious elements 3om di33eent ages ae 3used togethe. In the 3inal analysis,howeve, it is not so essential to segegate de3initively the ecods o3 single woldcatastohes. 6oe imotant, it seems, is to establish (#) that thee wee hysicaluheavals o3 a global chaacte in histoical timesH (2) that these catastohes wee causedby eCtateestial agentsH and (1) that these agents can be identi3ied.

:hee ae many imlications that 3ollow 3om these conclusions. I e3e to them in the?ilogue, so that I can omit e3eence to them hee.; 3ew eades went ove this book in manuscit and made valuable suggestions andemaks. In chonological ode o3 thei eading they ae>%. =oace 6. 4allen, 3omely %ean o3 the aduate Gaculty o3 the New +chool 3o +ocialeseach, New *okH Aohn A. "BNeill, +cience ?dito o3 the New *ok =eald :ibuneH AamesPutnam, ;ssociate ?dito o3 the 6acmillan 'omanyH 'li3ton Gadiman, liteay citic andcommentatoH odon ;. ;twate, 'haiman and 'uato o3 the =ayden Planetaium o3 the;meican 6useum o3 Natual =istoy, New *ok. :he last two ead the wok at thei owneFuest a3te 6. "BNeill had discussed it in an aticle in the =eald :ibuneo3 ;ugust ##,#9. I am indebted to all o3 them but I alone am esonsible 3o content and 3om.6iss 6aion 4uhn cleaed the manuscit o3 gammatical weeds and heled in eading theoo3s.6any an autho has dedicated his book to his wi3e o mentioned he in the e3ace. I havealways 3elt this was somewhat ostentatious, but now that this wok is being ublished, I 3eelI shall be most ungate3ul i3 I 3ail to mention that my wi3e ?lisheva sent almost as muchtime on it at ou desk as I did. I dedicate this book to he.:he yeas when;ges in 'haosand 8olds in 'ollisionwee witten wee yeas o3 a woldcatastohe ceated by man / o3 wa that was 3ought on land, on sea, and in the ai. %uingthat time man leaned how to take aat a 3ew o3 the bicks o3 which the univese is built /the atoms o3 uanium. I3 one day he should solve the oblem o3 the 3ission and 3usion o3the atoms o3 which the cust o3 the eath o its wate and ai ae comosed, he mayechance, by initiating a chain eaction, take this lanet out o3 the stuggle 3o suvival

among the membes o3 the celestial shee.:he ;utho, New *ok, +etembe #99.777777777777777777777777777777


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Pologue 'ha(te #n an mmense @niveseKuota as oens tanti nobis committituM/ +eneca

IN ;N I66?N+? univese a little globe evolves aound a staH it is the thid in the ow /6ecuy, Venus, ?ath / o3 the lanetay 3amily. It is o3 a solid coe coveed ove most o3 itssu3ace with liFuid, and it has a gaseous enveloe. !iving ceatues 3ill the liFuidH otheliving ceatues 3ly in the gasH and still othes cee and walk uon the gound on thebottom o3 the gaseous ocean. 6an, a being o3 eect statue, thinks himsel3 the ince o3ceation. =e 3elt like this long be3oe he, by his own e33ots, came to know how to 3ly onwings o3 metal aound the globe. =e 3elt godlike long be3oe he could talk to his 3ellow/manon the othe side o3 the globe. :oday he can see the micocosm in a do and the elementsin the stas. =e knows the laws govening the living cell with its chomosomes, and the lawsgovening the macocosm o3 the sun, moon, lanets, and stas. =e assumes that gavitation

kees the lanetay system togethe, man and beast on thei lanet, the sea within itsbodes. Go millions and millions o3 yeas, he maintains, the lanets have olled along onthe same aths, and thei moons aound them, and man in these eons has aisen 3om aone/cell in3usoium all the long way u the ladde to his status o3 =omo saiens.Is manBs knowledge now nealy comleteM ;e only a 3ew moe stes necessay to conFuethe univese> to eCtact the enegy o3 the atom / since these ages wee witten this hasaleady been done / to cue cance, to contol genetics, to communicate with othe lanetsand lean i3 they have living ceatues, tooM=ee begins =omo ignoamus. =e does not know what li3e is o how it came to be andwhethe it oiginated 3om inoganic matte. =e does not know whethe othe lanets o3 thissun o o3 othe suns have li3e on them, and i3 they have, whethe the 3oms o3 li3e thee aelike those aound us, ouselves included. =e does not know how this sola system came intobeing, although he has built u a 3ew hyotheses about it. =e knows only that the solasystem was constucted billions o3 yeas ago. =e does not know what this mysteious 3oceo3 gavitation is that holds him and his 3ellow man on the othe side o3 the lanet with thei3eet on the gound, although he egads the henomenon itsel3 as Ethe law o3 laws.E =e doesnot know what the eath looks like 3ive miles unde his 3eet. =e does not know howmountains came into eCistence o what caused the emegence o3 the continents, althoughhe builds hyotheses about these, no does he know 3om whee oil came / againhyotheses. =e does not know why, only a shot time ago, a thick glacial sheet esseduon most o3 ?uoe and Noth ;meica, as he believes it didH no how alms could gowabove the ola cicle, no how it came about that the same 3auna 3ill the inne lakes o3 the"ld and the New 8old. =e does not know whee the salt in the sea came 3om.

;lthough man knows that he has lived on this lanet 3o millions o3 yeas, he 3inds aecoded histoy o3 only a 3ew thousand yeas. ;nd even these 3ew thousand yeas ae notsu33iciently well known.8hy did the on5e ;ge ecede the Ion ;ge even though ion is moe widely distibutedove the wold and its manu3actue is simle than that o3 the alloy o3 coe and tinM ywhat mechanical means wee stuctues o3 immense blocks built on the high mountains o3the ;ndesM8hat caused the legend o3 the Glood to oiginate in all the counties o3 the woldM Is theeany adeFuate meaning to the tem EantediluvianEM Gom what eCeiences gew the


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lage as 6as. :hee is no egulaity o3, o elation between, the si5e o3 the lanets and theiosition in the system."n 6as ae seen EcanalsE and ola casH on the moon, catesH the eath has e3lectingoceansH Venus has billiant cloudsH Auite has belts and a ed sotH +atun has ings.:he celestial hamony is comosed o3 bodies di33eent in si5e, di33eent in 3om, di33eent inthe velocity o3 otation, with di33eently diected aCes o3 otation, with di33eent diections o3otation, with di33eently comosed atmoshees o without atmoshees, with a vayingnumbe o3 moons o without moons, and with satellites evolving in eithe diection.It aeas then to be by chance that the eath has a moon, that we have day and night andthat thei combined length is eFual to twenty/3ou hous, that we have a seFuence o3seasons, that we have oceans and wate, atmoshee and oCygen, and obably also thatou lanet is laced between Venus at ou le3t and 6as at ou ight.777777777777777777777777777777# :he 3i3th satellite o3 @anus was discoveed in #9.2 %ue to the geat distance o3 Netune and Pluto 3om the eath, smalle satellites aound these lanets mayhave emained undiscoveed.Note> 8hile this book was on the ess anothe satellite o3 Netune was discoveed by . P. 4uie.1 . amow> iogahy o3 the ?ath(#9#), . 2. :he eFuato o3 @anus is inclined at an angle o3 2Q to the lane o3 its obit.777777777777777777777777777777

:he "igin o3 the Planetay +ystem;ll theoies o3 the oigin o3 the lanetay system and the motive 3oces that sustain themotion o3 its membes go back to the gavitational theoy and the celestial mechanics o3Newton. :he sun attacts the lanets, and i3 it wee not 3o a second 3oce, they would 3allinto the sunH but each lanet is imelled by a motive 3oce to oceed in a diection away3om the sun, and as a esult, an obit is 3omed. +imilaly, a satellite o a moon is sub=undeds o3 millions o3 yeas ago the sun was nebulous and vey lage and had a 3omaoaching that o3 a disc. :his disc was as wide as the whole obit o3 the 3athest o3 thelanets. It otated aound its cente. "wing to the ocess o3 comession caused bygavitation, a globula sun shaed itsel3 in the cente o3 the disc. ecause o3 the otatingmotion o3 the whole nebula, a centi3ugal 3oce was in actionH ats o3 matte moe on theeihey esisted the etacting action diected towad the cente and boke u into ingswhich balled into globes / these wee the lanets in the ocess o3 shaing. In othe wods,as a esult o3 the shinkage o3 the otating sun, matte boke away and otions o3 this solamateial develoed into lanets. :he lane in which the lanets evolve is the eFuatoiallane o3 the sun.:his theoy is now egaded as unsatis3actoy. :hee ob


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eClain why the lanets have lage angula velocity o3 daily otation and yealy evolutionthan the sun could have imated to them. :hid, what made some o3 the satellites evolveetogadely, o in a diection oosite to that o3 most o3 the membes o3 the sola systemMEIt aeas to be clealy established that, whateve stuctue we assign to a imitive sun, alanetay system cannot come into being meely as the esult o3 the sunBs otation. I3 a sun,otating alone in sace, is not able o3 itsel3 to oduce its 3amily o3 lanets and satellites, itbecomes necessay to invoke the esence and assistance o3 some second body. :his bingsus at once to the tidal theoy.E 1:he tidal theoy, which, in its ealie stage, was called the lanetesimal theoy, assumesthat a sta assed close to the sun. ;n immense tide o3 matte aose 3om the sun in thediection o3 the assing sta and was ton 3om the body o3 the sun but emained in itsdomain, being the mateial out o3 which the lanets wee built. In the lanetesimal theoythe mass that was ton out boke into small ats which solidi3ied in saceH some weediven out o3 the sola system, and some 3ell back into the sun, but the est moved aoundit because o3 its gavitational ull. +weeing in elongated obits aound the sun, theyconglomeated, ounded out thei obits as a esult o3 mutual collisions, and gew to 3omlanets and satellites aound the lanets.:he tidal theoy $ does not allow the matte ton 3om the sun to disese 3ist and eunite

lateH the tide boke into a 3ew otions that athe Fuickly changed 3om gaseous to 3luid,and then to the solid state. In suot o3 this theoy it was indicated that such a tide, whenboken into a numbe o3 Edos,E would obably build the lagest EdosE out o3 its middleotion, and small EdosE 3om its beginning (nea the sun) and its end (most emote 3omthe sun). ;ctually, 6ecuy, neaest to the sun, is a small lanet. Venus is lageH eath is alittle lage than VenusH Auite is thee hunded and twenty times as lage as the eath (inmass)H +atun is somewhat smalle than AuiteH @anus and Netune, though lagelanets, ae not as lage as Auite and +atun. Pluto is Fuite as small as 6ecuy.:he 3ist di33iculty o3 the tidal hyothesis lies in the vey oint adduced in its suot, themass o3 the lanets. etween the eath and Auite thee evolves a small lanet, 6as, atenth at o3 the eath in mass, whee, accoding to the scheme, a lanet ten to 3i3ty times

as lage as the eath should be eCected. ;gain, Netune is lage and not smalle than@anus.;nothe di33iculty is the allegedly ae chance o3 an encounte between two stas. "ne o3 theauthos o3 the tidal theoy gave this estimate o3 its obability>

E;t a ough estimate we may suose that a given staBs chance o3 3oming a lanetaysystem is one in $,000,000,000,000,000,000 yeas.E ut since the li3e san o3 a sta ismuch shote than this 3igue, Eonly about one sta in #00,000 can have 3omed a lanetaysystem in the whole o3 its li3e.E In the galactic system o3 one hunded million stas,lanetay systems E3om at the ate o3 about one e 3ive billion yeas ... ou own system,with an age o3 the ode o3 two billion yeas, is obably the youngest system in the wholegalactic system o3 stas.E:he nebula and tidal theoies alike egad the lanets as deivatives o3 the sun, and the

satellites as deivatives o3 the lanets.:he oblem o3 the oigin o3 the moon can be egaded as distubing to the tidal theoy.eing smalle than the eath, the moon comleted ealie the ocess o3 cooling andshinking, and the luna volcanoes had aleady ceased to be active. It is calculated that themoon ossesses a lighte seci3ic weight than the eath. It is assumed that the moon wasoduced 3om the sue3icial layes o3 the eathBs body, which ae ich in light silicon,wheeas the coe o3 the eath, the main otion o3 its body, is made o3 heavy metals,aticulaly ion. ut this assumtion ostulates the oigin o3 the moon as notsimultaneous with the oigin o3 the eathH the eath, being 3omed out o3 a mass e


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3om the sun, had to undego a ocess o3 leveling, which laced the heavy metals in thecoe and silicon at the eihey, be3oe the moon ated 3om the eath by a new tidaldistotion. :his would mean two consecutive tidal distotions in a system whee the chanceo3 even one is held eCtemely ae. I3 the assing o3 one sta nea anothe haens amongone hunded million stas once in 3ive billion yeas, two occuences like this 3o one andthe same sta seem Fuite incedible. :hee3oe, as no bette eClanation is available, thesatellites ae suosed to have been ton 3om the lanets by the sunBs attaction on thei3ist eihelion assage, when, sweeing along on stetched obits, the lanets came close tothe sun.:he cicling o3 the satellites aound the lanets also con3onts eCisting cosmological theoieswith di33iculties. !alace built his theoy o3 the oigin o3 the sola system on the assumtionthat all lanets and satellites evolve in the same diection. =e wote that the aCial otationo3 the sun and the obital evolutions and aCial otations o3 the siC lanets, the moon, thesatellites, and the ings o3 +atun esent 3oty/thee movements, all in the same diection.E"ne 3inds by the analysis o3 the obabilities that thee ae moe than 3ou thousandbillion chances to one that this aangement is not the esult o3 chanceH this obability isconsideably highe than that o3 the eality o3 histoical events with egad to which no onewould ventue a doubt.E - =e deduced that a common and imal cause diected the

movements o3 the lanets and satellites.+ince the time o3 !alace, new membes o3 the sola system have been discoveed. Now weknow that though the ma a otating nebula could not oduce satellitesevolving in two diections.In the tidal theoy the diection o3 the lanetsB movements deended on the sta thatassed> it assed in the lane in which the lanets now evolve and in a diection whichdetemined thei cicling 3om west to east. ut why should the satellites o3 @anus evolveeendiculaly to that lane and some moons o3 Auite and +atun in evese diectionsM:his the tidal theoy 3ails to eClain.;ccoding to all eCisting theoies, the angula velocity o3 the evolution o3 a satellite must beslowe than the velocity o3 otation o3 its aent. ut the inne satellite o3 6as evolvesmoe aidly than 6as otates.+ome o3 the di33iculties that con3ont the nebula and tidal theoies also con3ont anothetheoy that has been oosed in ecent yeas. ;ccoding to it, the sun is suosed tohave been a membe o3 a double sta system. ; assing sta cushed the comanion o3 thesun, and out o3 its debis lanets wee 3omed. In 3uthe develoment o3 this hyothesis, itis maintained that the lage lanets wee built out o3 the debis, and the smalle ones, theso/called EteestialE lanets, wee 3omed 3om the lage ones by a ocess o3 cleavage.:he bith o3 smalle, solid lanets out o3 the lage, gaseous ones is con


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di33iculty.E 9777777777777777777777777777777# Isaac Newton> Pinciia(6athematical Pinciles) (#), k. III.2 P. +. !alace> ?Cosition du systTme du monde(#-9).1 +i Aames =. Aeans>;stonomy and 'osmogony(#929), . 09. :he lanetesimal hyothesis was develoed by :. '. 'hambelin and G. . 6oulton.$ :he tidal theoy was develoed by A. =. Aeans and =. Ae33eys. Aeans>;stonomy and 'osmogony, . 09.

- !alace> :hUoie analytiFue des obabilitUs(1d ed., #20), . lCiH c3. =. Gaye> +u IB"igine du monde(#),. #1#/#12. y !yttleton and, indeendently, by ussell.9 Aeans>;stonomy and 'osmogony, . 19$.777777777777777777777777777777

:he "igin o3 the 'omets:he nebula and tidal theoies endeavo to eClain the oigin o3 the sola system but do notinclude the comets in thei schemes. 'omets ae moe numeous than lanets. 6oe thansiCty comets ae known to belong de3initely to the sola system. :hese ae the comets o3

shot eiods (less than eighty yeas)H they evolve in stetched ellises and all but one donot go beyond the line maked by the obit o3 Netune. It is estimated that, besides thecomets o3 shot eiods, seveal hunded thousand comets visit the sola systemH howeve,it is not known 3o cetain that they etun eiodically. :hey ae seen esently at anaoCimate ate o3 3ive hunded in a centuy, and ae said to have an aveage eiod o3tens o3 thousands o3 yeas.; 3ew theoies o3 the oigin o3 comets have been oosed, but aside 3om one attemt to seein them lanetesimals that did not eceive a side ull su33iciently stong to bing them intocicula obits, # no scheme has been develoed that eClains the oigin o3 the sola systemin its entiety, with its lanets and cometsH yet no cosmic theoy can esist which limitsitsel3 to the oblem o3 eithe lanets o comets eCclusively.

"ne theoy sees in the comets eant cosmic bodies aiving 3om intestella sace. ;3teaoaching the sun, they tun away on an oen (aabolic) cuve. ut i3 they haen toass close to one o3 the lage lanets, they may be comelled to change thei oen cuvesto ellises and become comets o3 shot eiod. 2

:his is the theoy o3 catue> comets o3 long eiods o o3 no eiod ae dislodged 3om theiaths to become shot/eiod comets. 8hat the oigin o3 the long/eiod comets is emainsan unansweed Fuestion.:he shot/eiod comets aaently have some elation to the lage lanets. ;bout 3i3tycomets move between the sun and the obit o3 AuiteH thei eiods ae unde nine yeas.Gou comets each the obit o3 +atunH two comets evolve inside the cicle descibed by@anusH and nine comets, with an aveage eiod o3 seventy/one yeas, move within the

obit o3 Netune. :hese comise the system o3 the shot/eiod comets as it is known atesent. :o the last gou belongs the =alley comet, which, among the comets o3 shoteiods, has the longest eiod o3 evolution / about seventy/siC yeas. :hen thee is a geatga, a3te which thee ae comets that eFuie thousands o3 yeas be3oe they etun to thesun, i3 they etun at all.:he distibution o3 the shot/eiod comets suggested the idea that they wee EcatuedE bythe lage lanets. :his theoy has 3o its suot the diect obsevation that comets aedistubed on thei ath by the lanets.;nothe theoy o3 the comets suoses thei oigin to have been in the sun, but in a manneunlike that conceived o3 in the tidal theoy o3 the oigin o3 lanets. 6ighty whils on the


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su3ace o3 the sun swee ignited gases into geat otubeancesH these ae obseved daily.6atte is diven o33 3om the sun and etuns to the sun. It is calculated that i3 the velocityo3 the e


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'ha(te 2:he Planet ?ath:=? P!;N?: ?;:= has a stony shell / the lithosheeH it consists o3 igneous ock, likeganite and basalt, with sedimentay ock on to. :he igneous ock is the oiginal cust o3the eathH sedimentay ock is deosited by wate.

:he inne comosition o3 the eath is not known. :he oagation o3 seismic waves givessuot to the assumtion that the shell o3 the eath is ove 2,000 miles thickH on the basiso3 the gavitational e33ect o3 mountain masses (the theoy o3 isostasy), the shell is estimatedto be only siCty miles thick.:he esence o3 ion in the shell o the migation o3 heavy metals 3om the coe to the shellhas not been su33iciently eClained. Go these metals to have le3t the coe, they must havebeen e


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that time also visited by cataclysms.=e could not 3ind the cause o3 these cataclysms. =e saw in thei taces Ethe oblem ingeology it is o3 most imotance to solve,E but he eali5ed that Ein ode to esolve itsatis3actoily, it would be necessay to discove the cause o3 these events / an undetakingwhich esents a di33iculty o3 Fuite a di33eent kind.E =e knew only o3 Emany 3uitlessattemtsE aleady made and he did not 3ind himsel3 able to o33e a solution. E:hese ideashave haunted, I may almost say have tomented me duing my eseaches among 3ossilbones.E 2'uvieBs theoy o3 stabili5ed 3oms o3 li3e and o3 annihilating catastohes was sulanted bya theoy o3 evolution in geology (!yell) and biology (%awin). :he mountains ae what is le3to3 lateaus eoded by wind and wate in a vey slow ocess. +edimentay ock is detitus o3igneous ock eoded by ain, then caied to sea, and thee slowly deosited. +keletons o3bids and o3 land animals in these ocks ae esumed to have belonged to animals thatwaded close to the shoe o3 the sea in shallow wate, died while wading, and wee coveedby sediment be3oe 3ish destoyed the cadaves o the wate seaated the bones o3 theiskeletons. No widesead catastohes disuted the slow and steady ocess. :he theoy o3evolution, which can be taced to ;istotle, and which was the teaching o3 !amack in thedays o3 'uvie and o3 %awin a3te him, has been geneally acceted as tuth by natual

sciences 3o almost a hunded yeas.+edimentay ock coves high mountains and the highest o3 all, the =imalayas. +hells andskeletons o3 sea animals ae 3ound thee. :his means that at some ealy time 3ish swamove these mountains. 8hat caused the mountains to iseM; 3oce ushing 3om within o ulling 3om without o twisting on the sides must haveelevated the mountains and li3ted continents 3om the bottom o3 the sea and submegedothe land masses.I3 we do not know what these 3oces ae, we cannot answe the oblem o3 the oigin o3 themountains and o3 continents, wheeve on the globe we ae 3aced with it.=ee is how the Fuestion is ut concening the easten coast o3 Noth ;meica.ENot long ago in a geological sense, the 3lat lain 3om New Aesey to Gloida was unde thesea. ;t that time the ocean su3 boke diectly on the "ld ;alachian 6ountains.Peviously the southeasten at o3 the mountain stuctue had sunk below the sea andbecome coveed with a laye o3 sand and mud, thickening seawad. :he wedge/like mass o3maine sediments was then uli3ted and cut into by ives, giving the ;tlantic coastal laino3 the @nited +tates. 8hy was it uli3tedM :o the westwad ae the ;alachians. :hegeologist tells us o3 the stess3ul times when a belt o3 ocks eCtending 3om ;labama toNew3oundland was


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:he ocess o3 aising the mountains is suosed to have been vey slow and gadual. "nthe othe hand, it is clea that igneous ock, aleady had, had to become 3luid in ode toenetate sedimentay ock o cove it. It is not known what initiated this ocess, but it isasseted that it must have haened long be3oe man aeaed on the eath. +o whenskulls o3 ealy man ae 3ound in late deosits, o skulls o3 moden man ae 3ound togethewith bones o3 eCtinct animals in ealy deosits, di33icult oblems ae esented."ccasionally, also, duing mining oeations, a human skull is 3ound in the middle o3 amountain, unde a thick cove o3 basalt o ganite, like the 'alaveas skull o3 'ali3onia.=uman emains and human ati3acts o3 bone, olished stone, o ottey ae 3ound undegeat deosits o3 till and gavel, sometimes unde as much as a hunded 3eet.:he oigin o3 clay, sand, and gavel on igneous and sedimentay ock, o33es a oblem. :hetheoy o3 Ice ;ges was ut 3oth (#0) to eClain this and othe enigmatic henomena. ;s3a noth as +it5begen, in the ola cicle, at some time in the ast, coal ee3s wee3omed, which do not occu eCcet in toical egionsH alms also gew on +it5begen. :hecontinent o3 ;ntactica, which today has not a single tee on it, must have been coveed atone time by 3oests, since it has coal deosits.;s we see, the lanet eath is 3ull o3 secets. 8e have not come close to solving the oblemo3 the oigin o3 the sola system by investigating the lanet unde ou 3eetH on the contay,

we have 3ound many othe unsolved oblems concening the lithoshee, hydoshee, andatmoshee o3 the eath. +hall we be moe 3otunate i3 we ty to undestand the ocess thatcaused the changes on the globe in the most ecent geological eoch, the time o3 the lastglacial eiod, a eiod close to the time which is egaded as histoicalM777777777777777777777777777777# . 'uvie> ?ssay on the :heoy o3 the ?ath($th ed., #2-) (?nglish tansl. "3 %iscous su les Uvolutions dela su3ace du globe, et su les changements FuBelles ont oduits dans le Tgne animal).2 Ibid., . 20/22.1 . ;. %aly> "u 6obile ?ath(#92), . 90. G. 4. 6athe> eview o3 iogahy o3 the ?ath by . amov, +cience, Aan. #, #92.$ '. . !ongwell, ;. 4no3, and . G. Glint>; :eCtbook o3 eology(#919), . 0$.777777777777777777777777777777

ce ;gesNot many thousands o3 yeas ago, we ae taught, geat aeas o3 ?uoe and o3 Noth;meica wee coveed with glacies. Peetual ice lay not only on the sloes o3 highmountains, but loaded itsel3 in heavy masses uon continents even in modeate latitudes.8hee today the =udson, the ?lbe, and the ue %niee 3low, thee wee then 3o5endesets. :hey wee like the immense glacie o3 eenland that coves that island. :hee aesigns that a eteat o3 the glacies was inteuted by a new massing o3 ice, and that theibodes di33eed at vaious times. eologists ae able to 3ind the boundaies o3 the glacies.Ice moves vey slowly, ushing stones be3oe it, and accumulations o3 stones o moainesemain when the glacie eteats melting away.:aces have been 3ound o3 3ive o siC consecutive dislacements o3 the ice sheet duing theIce ;ge, o o3 3ive o siC glacial eiods. +ome 3oce eeatedly ushed the ice sheet towadmodeate latitudes. Neithe the cause o3 the ice ages no the cause o3 the eteat o3 the icydeset is knownH the time o3 these eteats is also a matte o3 seculation.6any ideas wee o33eed and guesses made to eClain how the glacial eochs oiginated andwhy they teminated. +ome suosed that the sun at di33eent times emits moe o lessheat, which causes eiods o3 heat and cold on the eathH but no evidence that the sun issuch a Evaiable staE was adduced to suot this hyothesis."thes con


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sola system tavels though the coole aeas, ice descends uon latitudes close to thetoics. ut no hysical agents wee 3ound esonsible 3o such hyothetical cold and wamaeas in sace.; 3ew wondeed whethe the ecession o3 the eFuinoCes o the slow change in the diectiono3 the teestial aCis might cause eiodic vaiations in the climate. ut it was shown thatthe di33eence in insolation could not have been geat enough to have been esonsible 3othe glacial ages.+till othes thought to 3ind the answe in the eiodic vaiations in the eccenticity o3 theeclitic (teestial obit), with glaciation at the maCimal eccenticity. +ome o3 themsuosed that winte in ahelion, the emotest at o3 the eclitic, would cause glaciationHand some thought that summe in ahelion would oduce that e33ect.+ome scholas thought about the changes in the osition o3 the teestial aCis. I3 the laneteath is igid, as it is egaded to be (!. 4elvin), the aCis could not have shi3ted in geologicaltimes by moe than thee degees (eoge %awin)H i3 it wee elastic, it could have shi3ted uto ten o 3i3teen degees in a vey slow ocess.:he cause o3 the ice ages was seen by a 3ew scholas in the decease o3 the oiginal heat o3the lanetH the wam eiods between the ice ages wee attibuted to the heat set 3ee by ahyothetical decomosition o3 oganisms in the stata close to the su3ace o3 the gound.

:he incease and decease in the action o3 wam sings wee also consideed."thes suosed that dust o3 volcanic oigin 3illed the teestial atmoshee and hindeedinsolation, o, contaiwise, that an inceased content o3 cabon dioCide in the atmosheeobstucted the e3lection o3 heat ays 3om the su3ace o3 the lanet. ; decease in theamount o3 cabon dioCide in the atmoshee would cause a 3all o3 temeatue (;henius),but calculations wee made to show that this could not be the eal cause o3 the glacial ages(ngstWm).'hanges in the diection o3 wam cuents in the ;tlantic "cean wee bought into thediscussion, and the Isthmus o3 Panama was theoetically emoved to allow the ul3 +teamto ass into the Paci3ic at the time o3 the glacial eiods. ut it was oved that the twooceans wee aleady divided in the Ice ;geH besides, a at o3 the ul3 +team would haveemained in the ;tlantic anyway. :he eiodic eteats o3 ice between the glacial eiodswould have eFuied eiodic emoval and elacement o3 the Isthmus o3 Panama."the theoies o3 eFually hyothetical natue wee oosedH but the henomena heldesonsible 3o the changes have not been oved to have eCisted, o to have been able tooduce the e33ect.;ll the above/mentioned theoies and hyotheses 3ail i3 they cannot meet a most imotantcondition> In ode 3o ice masses to have been 3omed, inceased eciitation must havetaken lace. :his eFuies an inceased amount o3 wate vao in the atmoshee, which isthe esult o3 inceased evaoation 3om the su3ace o3 oceansH but this could be caused byheat only. ; numbe o3 scientists ointed out this 3act, and even calculated that in ode tooduce a sheet o3 ice as lage as that o3 the Ice ;ge, the su3ace o3 all the oceans must haveevaoated to a deth o3 many 3eet. +uch an evaoation o3 oceans 3ollowed by a Fuick

ocess o3 3ee5ing, even in modeate latitudes, would have oduced the ice ages. :heoblem is> 8hat could have caused the evaoation and immediately subseFuent 3ee5ingM;s the cause o3 such Fuick altenation o3 heating and 3ee5ing o3 lage ats o3 the globe isnot aaent, it is conceded that Eat esent the cause o3 eCcessive ice/making on the landsemains a ba33ling mystey, a ma


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nothen hemishee, did the ice move in India 3om the eFuato towad the =imalayamountains and the highe latitudesM 8hy did the glacies o3 the Ice ;ge cove the geateat o3 Noth ;meica and ?uoe, while the noth o3 ;sia emained 3eeM In ;meica thelateau o3 ice stetched u to latitude 0Q and even assed acoss this lineH in ?uoe iteached latitude $0QH while notheasten +ibeia, above the ola cicle, even above latitude-$Q, was not coveed with this eennial ice. ;ll hyotheses egading inceased anddiminished insolation due to sola alteations o the changing temeatue o3 the cosmicsace, and othe simila hyotheses, cannot avoid being con3onted with this oblem.lacies ae 3omed in the egions o3 etenal snowH 3o this eason they emain on the sloeso3 the high mountains. :he noth o3 +ibeia is the coldest lace in the wold. 8hy did notthe Ice ;ge touch this egion, wheeas it visited the basin o3 the 6ississii and all ;3icasouth o3 the eFuatoM No satis3actoy solution to this Fuestion has been oosed.777777777777777777777777777777# . ;. %aly> :he 'hanging 8old o3 the Ice ;ge(#91), . #.777777777777777777777777777777

:he 6ammothsNotheast +ibeia, which was not coveed by ice in the Ice ;ge, conceals anothe enigma.:he climate thee has aaently changed dastically since the end o3 the Ice ;ge, and theyealy temeatue has doed many degees below its evious level. ;nimals once livedin this egion that do not live thee now, and lants gew thee that ae unable to gow theenow. :he change must have occued Fuite suddenly. :he cause o3 this 4limastu5 has notbeen eClained. In this catastohic change o3 climate and unde mysteious cicumstances,all the mammoths o3 +ibeia eished.:he mammoth belonged to the 3amily o3 elehants. Its tusks wee sometimes as much asten 3eet long. Its teeth wee highly develoed and thei EdensityE was geate than in anyothe stage in the evolution o3 the elehantsH aaently they did not succumb in thestuggle 3o suvival as an un3it oduct o3 evolution. :he eCtinction o3 the mammoth is

thought to have coincided with the end o3 the last glacial eiod.:usks o3 mammoths have been 3ound in lage numbes in notheast +ibeiaH this well/eseved ivoy has been an ob Eeeated iutions and eteats o3 thesea have neithe all been slow no gadualH on the contay, most o3 the catastohes whichhave occasioned them have been suddenH and this is esecially easy to be oved with

egad to the last o3 these catastohes, that which, by a two3old motion, has inundated,and a3tewads laid dy, ou esent continents, o at least a at o3 the land which 3omsthem at the esent day. In the nothen egions it has le3t the cacasses o3 lageFuadueds which became enveloed in the ice, and have thus been eseved even to ouown times, with thei skin, thei hai, and thei 3lesh. I3 they had not been 3o5en as soon askilled, they would have been decomosed by ute3action. ;nd, on the othe hand, thisetenal 3ost could not eviously have occuied the laces in which they have been sei5edby it, 3o they could not have lived in such a temeatue. It was, thee3oe, at one and thesame moment that these animals wee destoyed and the county which they inhabited


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became coveed with ice. :his event has been sudden, instantaneous, without anygadation, and what is so clealy demonstated with esect to this last catastohe, is notless so with e3eence to those which have eceded it.E 2

:he theoy o3 eeated catastohes annihilating li3e on this lanet and eeated ceationso estoations o3 li3e, o33eed by %eluc 1 and eCanded by 'uvie, did not convince thescienti3ic wold. !ike !amack be3oe 'uvie, %awin a3te him thought that an eCceedinglyslow evolutional ocess govens genetics, and that thee wee no catastohes inteutingthis ocess o3 in3initesimal changes. ;ccoding to the theoy o3 evolution, these minutechanges came as a esult o3 adatation to living conditions in the stuggle o3 the secies 3osuvival.!ike the theoies o3 !amack and %awin, which ostulate slow changes in animals, withtens o3 thousands o3 yeas eFuied 3o a minute ste in evolution, the geological theoies o3the nineteenth centuy, and o3 the twentieth as well, egad the geological ocesses aseCceedingly slow and deendent on eosion by ain, wind, and tides.%awin admitted that he was unable to 3ind an eClanation 3o the eCtemination o3 the

mammoth, an animal bette develoed than the elehant which suvived.

ut incon3omity with the theoy o3 evolution, his 3ollowes suosed that a gadual sinking o3 the

land 3oced the mammoths to the hills, whee they 3ound themselves isolated by mashes.=oweve, i3 geological ocesses ae slow, the mammoths would not have been taed onthe isolated hills. esides, this theoy cannot be tue because the animals did not die o3stavation. In thei stomachs and between thei teeth undigested gass and leaves wee3ound. :his, too, oves that they died 3om a sudden cause. Guthe investigations showedthat the leaves and twigs 3ound in thei stomachs do not now gow in the egions whee theanimals died, but 3a to the south, a thousand o moe miles away. It is aaent that theclimate has changed adically since the death o3 the mammothsH and as the bodies o3 theanimals wee 3ound not decomosed but well eseved in blocks o3 ice, the change intemeatue must have 3ollowed thei death vey closely o even caused it.:hee emains to be added that a3te stoms in the ;ctic, tusks o3 mammoths ae washedu on the shoes o3 actic islandsH this oves that a at o3 the land whee the mammoths

lived and wee downed is coveed by the ;ctic "cean.777777777777777777777777777777# "bsevation o3 %. G. =et5 in . %igby> :he 6ammoth(#92), . 9.2 'uvie> ?ssay on the :heoy o3 the ?ath, . #/#$.1 A. ;. %eluc (#-2-X##-)> !ettes on the Physical =istoy o3 the ?ath(#1#). +ee . G. 4un5> Ivoy and the ?lehant in ;t, in ;chaeology, and in +cience(#9#), . 21.777777777777777777777777777777

:he ce ;ge and the ;ntiFuity o3 6an:he mammoth lived in the age o3 man. 6an ictued it on the walls o3 cavesH emains o3men have eeatedly been 3ound in 'ental ?uoe togethe with emains o3 mammothsHoccasionally the settlements o3 the neolithic man o3 ?uoe ae 3ound stewn with the boneso3 mammoths. # 6an moved southwad when ?uoe was coveed with ice and etunedwhen the ice eteated. =istoical man witnessed geat vaiation in climate. :he mammotho3 +ibeia, the meat o3 which is still 3esh, is suosed to have been destoyed at the end o3the last glacial eiod, simultaneously with the mammoths o3 ?uoe and ;laska. I3 this isso, the +ibeian mammoth was also the contemoay o3 a athe moden man. ;t a timewhen in ?uoe, close to the ice sheet, man was still in the late stages o3 neolithic cultue,in the Nea and 6iddle ?ast / the egion o3 the geat cultues o3 antiFuity / he may aleadyhave ogessed well into the metal age. :hee eCists no chonological table o3 neolithic


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cultue because the at o3 witing was invented aoCimately at the advent o3 the coe /the ealy / eiod o3 the on5e ;ge. It is esumed that the neolithic man o3 ?uoe le3tictues but no inscitions, and conseFuently thee ae no means o3 detemining the end o3the Ice ;ge in tems o3 chonology.eologists have tied to 3ind the time o3 the end o3 the last glacial eiod by measuing thedetitus caied by ives 3om the glacies and the deosits o3 detitus in lakes. :heFuantity caied by the hone 3om the glacies o3 the ;ls and the amount on the bottom o3the !ake o3 eneva, though which the hone 3lows, wee calculated, and 3om the 3iguesobtained the time and velocity o3 the eteat o3 the glacial sheet o3 the last glacial eiodwee estimated. ;ccoding to the +wiss schola Gancois Goel, twelve thousand yeas haveassed since the time the ice sheet o3 the last glacial eiod began to melt, an uneCectedlylow 3igue, as it was thought that the ice age ended thity to 3i3ty thousand yeas ago.+uch calculations su33e 3om being only indiect evaluationsH and since the velocity atwhich the glacial mud had been deosited in the lakes was not constant and the amountvaied, the mud must have assembled on the bottom o3 a lake at a 3aste ate in thebeginning when the glacies wee lageH and i3 the Ice ;ge teminated suddenly, thedeosition o3 detitus would have been much heavie at 3ist, and thee would be littleanalogy to the accumulation o3 detitus 3om the seasonal melting o3 snow in the ;ls.

:hee3oe, the time that has elased since the end o3 the last glacial eiod must have beeneven shote than eckoned.eologists egad the eat !akes o3 ;meica as having been 3omed at the end o3 the Ice;ge when the continental glacie eteated and the deessions 3eed 3om the glaciebecame lakes. In the last two hunded yeas Niagaa Galls has eteated 3om !ake "ntaiotowad !ake ?ie at the ate o3 3ive 3eet annually, washing down the ocks o3 the bed o3 the3alls. 2 I3 this ocess has been going m at the same ate since the end o3 the last glacialeiod, about seven thousand yeas wee needed to move Niagaa Galls 3om the mouth o3the goge at Kueenston to its esent osition. :he assumtion that the Fuantity o3 watemoving though the goge has been uni3om since the end o3 the Ice ;ge is the basis o3 thiscalculation, and thee3oe, it was concluded, seven thousand yeas may constitute EthemaCimum length o3 time since the bith o3 the 3alls.E 1 In the beginning, when immensemasses o3 wate wee eleased by the eteat o3 the continental glacie, the ate o3 movemento3 Niagaa Galls must have been much moe aidH the time estimate Emay need signi3icanteduction,E and is sometimes loweed to 3ive thousand yeas. :he eosion andsedimentation on the shoes and the bottom o3 !ake 6ichigan also suggest a lase o3 timecounted in thousands, but not in tens o3 thousands, o3 yeas. ;lso the esult o3aleontological eseach in ;meica caies evidence which constitutes Ea guaantee thatbe3oe the last eiod o3 glaciation, moden man, in the 3om o3 that highly develoed ace,the ;meican Indian, was living on the easten seaboad o3 Noth ;meicaE (;. 4eith). $ It isassumed that with the advent o3 the last glacial eiod the Indians eteated southwad,etuning to the noth when the ice uncoveed the gound and when the eat !akesemeged, the basin o3 the +t. !awence was 3omed, and Niagaa Galls began its eteat

towad !ake ?ie.I3 the end o3 the last glacial eiod occued only a 3ew thousand yeas ago, in histoicaltimes o at a time when the at o3 witing may have been aleady emloyed in the centes o3ancient civili5ation, the ecods witten in ocks by natue and the ecods witten by manmust give a coodinated ictue. !et us, thee3oe, investigate the taditions and the liteayecods o3 ancient man, and comae them with the ecods o3 natue.777777777777777777777777777777# In Pedmost in 6oavia a settlement has been eCcavated in which emnants o3 a human cultue and emainso3 men wee 3ound togethe with skeletons o3 eight hunded to one thousand mammoths. +houlde blades o3mammoths wee used in the constuction o3 human gaves.


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2 :he ecession has been $ 3eet e yea since #-H at esent it is 2.1 3eet on the sides o3 the hoseshoecataact, but substantially moe in the cente.1 . G. 8ight> E:he %ate o3 the lacial Peiod,E :he Ice ;ge in Noth ;meica and Its eaing uon the ;ntiFuityo3 6an($th ed., #9##). Ibid., . $19. '3. also 8. @ham in;meican eologist, LLVIII, 21, and LLLVI, 2+. =e dates the uise o3the +t. !awence basin ,000 to -,000 yeas agoH the +t. !awence must have been 3eed 3om ice be3oe NiagaaGalls could come into 3ull action. Not dissimila 3igues wee obtained 3om the eteat o3 the Galls o3 +t. ;nthonyon the 6ississii at 6inneaolis.

$ 4eith thinks that the develoment o3 the human skull went though a ocess o3 advance and etogessionduing eCceedingly long ages.777777777777777777777777777777

:he 8old ;ges; concetion o3 ages that wee bought to thei end by violent changes in natue is commonall ove the wold. :he numbe o3 ages di33es 3om eole to eole and 3om tadition totadition. :he di33eence deends on the numbe o3 catastohes that the aticula eoleetained in its memoy, o on the way it eckoned the end o3 an age.In the annals o3 ancient ?tuia, accoding to Vao, wee ecods o3 seven elased ages.

'ensoinus, an autho o3 the thid 'histian centuy and comile o3 Vao, wote that Ementhought that di33eent odigies aeaed by means o3 which the gods noti3ied motals at theend o3 each age. :he ?tuscans wee vesed in the science o3 the stas, and a3te havingobseved the odigies with attention, they ecoded these obsevations in thei books.E #

:he eeks had simila taditions. E:hee is a eiod,E wote 'ensoinus, Ecalled Bthesueme yeaB by ;istotle, at the end o3 which the sun, moon, and all the lanets etun tothei oiginal osition. :his Bsueme yeaB has a geat winte, called by the eekskataklysmos, which means deluge, and a geat summe, called by the eeks ekyosis, ocombustion o3 the wold. :he wold, actually, seems to be inundated and buned altenatelyin each o3 these eochs.E;naCimenes and ;naCimande in the siCth e/'histian centuy, and %iogenes o3 ;olloniain the 3i3th centuy, assumed the destuction o3 the wold with subseFuent eceation.=eaclitus (/$0 to /-$) taught that the wold is destoyed in con3lagation a3te eveyeiod o3 #0,00 yeas. ;istachus o3 +amos in the thid centuy be3oe the esent eataught that in a eiod o3 2, yeas the eath undegoes two destuctions / o3 combustionand deluge. :he +toics geneally believed in eiodic con3lagations by which the wold wasconsumed, to be shaed anew. E:his is due to the 3oces o3 eve/active 3ie which eCists inthings and in the couse o3 long cycles o3 time esolves eveything into itsel3 and out o3 it isconstucted a ebon woldE / so Philo esented the notion o3 the +toics that ou wold ise3ashioned in eiodic con3lagations. 2

In one such catastohe the wold will meet its ultimate destuctionH colliding with anothewold, it will 3all aat into atoms out o3 which, in a long ocess, a new eath will beceated somewhee in the univese. E%emocitus and ?icuus,E eClained Philo, Eostulate

many wolds, the oigin o3 which they ascibe to the mutual imacts and intelacing o3atoms, and thei destuction to the counte/blows and collisions by the bodies so 3omed.E;s this eath goes to its ultimate destuction, it asses though ecuing cosmiccatastohes and is e/3omed with all that lives on it.=esiod, one o3 the ealiest eek authos, wote about 3ou ages and 3ou geneations o3men that wee destoyed by the wath o3 the lanetay gods. :he thid age was the age o3bon5eH when it was destoyed by Deus, a new geneation e/eoled the eath, and usingbon5e 3o ams and tools, they began to use ion, too. :he heoes o3 the :o


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anothe geneation, the 3i3th, o3 men who ae uon the bounteous eathE / the geneation o3ion. 1 In anothe wok o3 his, =esiod descibed the end o3 one o3 the ages. E:he li3e/givingeath cashed aound in buning ... all the land seethed, and the "ceanBs steams ... itseemed even as i3 ?ath and wide =eaven above came togetheH 3o such a mighty cashwould have aisen i3 ?ath wee being huled to uin, and =eaven 3om on high wee hulinghe down.E

;nalogous taditions o3 3ou eCied ages esist on the shoes o3 the engal +ea and in thehighland o3 :ibet / the esent age is the 3i3th. $:he saced =indu book hagavata Puanatells o3 3ou ages and o3 alayas o cataclysms inwhich, in vaious eochs, mankind was nealy destoyedH the 3i3th age is that o3 the esent.:he wold ages ae called 4alas o *ugas. ?ach wold age met its destuction incatastohes o3 con3lagation, 3lood, and huicane. ?5ou Vedamand haga Vedam, saced=indu books, keeing to the scheme o3 3ou eCied ages, di33e only in the numbe o3 yeasascibed to each. In the chate, E8old 'ycles,E in Visuddhi/6agga, it is said that Etheeae thee destuctions> the destuction by wate, the destuction by 3ie, the destuction bywind,E but that thee ae seven ages, each o3 which is seaated 3om the evious one by awold catastohe. -

e3eence to ages and catastohes is 3ound in;vesta(Dend/;vesta), the saced scitues

o3 6a5daism, the ancient eligion o3 the Pesians. ahman *ast, one o3 the books o3 ;vesta, counts seven wold ages o millennia. 9

Daathusta (Dooaste), the ohet o3 6a5daism, seaks o3 Ethe signs, wondes, andeleCity which ae mani3ested in the wold at the end o3 each millennium.E #0

:he 'hinese call the eished ages kis and numbe ten kis 3om the beginning o3 the wolduntil 'on3ucius. ## In the ancient 'hinese encycloedia, +ing/li/ta/tsiuen/chou, the genealconvulsions o3 natue ae discussed. ecause o3 the eiodicity o3 these convulsions, thesan o3 time between two catastohes is egaded as a Egeat yea.E ;s duing a yea, soduing a wold age, the cosmic mechanism winds itsel3 u and Ein a geneal convulsion o3natue, the sea is caied out o3 its bed, mountains sing out o3 the gound, ives changethei couse, human beings and eveything ae uined, and the ancient taces e33aced.E #2

;n old tadition, and a vey esistent one, o3 wold ages that went down in cosmiccatastohes was 3ound in the ;meicas among the Incas, #1 the ;5tecs, and the 6ayas. #

; ma


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consecutive e/moldings. New conditions wee ceated a3te each o3 the catastohes. "n the3outh eath lived the geneation o3 the :owe o3 abelH we belong to the seventh age. ?acho3 the ages o EeathsE has a name.+even heavens wee ceated and seven eaths wee ceated> the most emoved, the seventh,?et5H the siCth, ;damahH the 3i3th, ;kaH the 3outh, =aabahH the thid, *abbashahH thesecond, :evelH and Eou own land called =eled, and like the othes, it is seaated 3om the3oegoing by abyss, chaos, and wate.E 20 eat catastohes changed the 3ace o3 the eath.E+ome eished by deluge, othes wee consumed by con3lagation,E wote the Aewishhilosohe Philo. 2#

;ccoding to the abbinical authoity ashi, ancient tadition knows o3 eiodic collases o3the 3imament, one o3 which occued in the days o3 the %eluge, and which eeatedthemselves at intevals o3 #,$ yeas. 22:he duation o3 the wold ages vaies in ;menianand ;abian taditions. 21777777777777777777777777777777# 'ensoinus> !ibe de die nataliCviii.2 Philo> "n :he ?tenity o3 the 8old(tansl. G. =. 'olson, #9#), +ec. .1 =esiod> 8oks and %ays(tansl. =. . ?velyn/8hite, #9#), #. #9. =esiod>:heogony(tansl. ?velyn/8hite, #9#), ##. 9133.$ ?. 6oo> :he =indu Pantheon(##0), . #02H ;. von =umboldt> Vues des 'odillTes(##), ?nglish tansl.>

9eseaches 'oncening the Institutions and 6onuments o3 the ;ncient Inhabitants o3 ;meica (##), Vol. II,. #$33. +ee '. G. Volney> New 9eseaches on ;ncient =istoy(#$), . #$-.- =. '. 8aen> uddhism in :anslations(#9), . 12033. G. 'umont> E!a Gin du monde selon les mages occidentauC,E 9evue de lBhistoie des eligions(#91#), . $0H =.+. Nybeg> %ie 9eligionen des alten Ian (#91), . 233.9 Eahman *astE (tansl. ?. 8. 8est) in Pahlavi :eCts(:he +aced ooks o3 the ?ast, ed. G. 6. 6ulle, V #0J),#9#. +ee 8. ousset> E%ie =immelseise de +eele,E;chiv 3Y 9eligionswissenscha3t, IV (#90#).#0 E%inkad,E k. VIII, 'ha. LIV (tansl. 8est), in Pahlavi :eCts(:he +aced ooks o3 the ?ast, LLLVII #92J),11.## =. 6uay, A. 'aw3ud, and othes>;n =istoical and %escitive ;ccount o3 'hina(2nd ed., #1), I, 0.#2 . +chlegel> @anogahie chinoise(#-$), . -0, with e3eence to 8ou/3oung.#1 =. . ;leCande> !atin ;meican 6ythology(#920), . 20.# =umboldt> 9eseaches, II, #$.

#$ '. ?. asseu de ouboug> +Bil eCiste des +ouces de lBhistoie imitive du 6eCiFue dans les monumentsUgytiens, etc. (#), . #9.# asseu> =istoie des nations civilisUes du 6eCiFue(#$-/#$9), I, $1.#- . . %iCon> "ceanic 6ythology(#9#), . #$.# . 8. 8illiamson> 9eligious and 'osmic elie3s o3 'ental Polynesia(#911), I, 9.#9 :he Poetic ?dda> VWlusa(tansl. 3om the Icelandic by =. ;. ellows, #921), 2nd stan5a.20 !ouis in5beg> !egends o3 the Aews(#92$), I. , 9 / #0, -2H V, #, #0.2# Philo> 6oses, II, C, $1.22 'ommentay to enesis##>#.21 +ee . ?isle> 8eltmantel und =immels5elt(#9#0), II, $#.777777777777777777777777777777

:he +un ;ges;n o3t/eeated occuence in the taditions o3 the wold ages is the advent o3 a new sun inthe sky at the beginning o3 evey age. :he wod EsunE is substituted 3o the wod EageE in thecosmogonical taditions o3 many eoles all ove the wold.:he 6ayas counted thei ages by the names o3 thei consecutive suns. :hese wee called8ate +un, ?athFuake +un, =uicane +un, Gie +un. E:hese suns mak the eochs towhich ae attibuted the vaious catastohes the wold has su33eed.E #

ICtlilCochitl (cica #$/#), the native Indian schola, in his annals o3 the kings o3:e5cuco, descibed the wold ages by the names o3 Esuns.E 2:he 8ate +un (o +un o3


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8ates) was the 3ist age, teminated by a deluge in which almost all ceatues eishedH the?athFuake +un o age eished in a tei3ic eathFuake when the eath boke in manylaces and mountains 3ell. :he wold age o3 the =uicane +un came to its destuction in acosmic huicane. :he Gie +un was the wold age that went down in a ain o3 3ie. 1

E:he nations o3 'ulhua o 6eCico,E =umboldt Fuoted Zmaa, the +anish wite o3 thesiCteenth centuy, Ebelieve accoding to thei hieoglyhic aintings, that, evious to thesun which now enlightens them, 3ou had aleady been successively eCtinguished. :hese3ou suns ae as many ages, in which ou secies has been annihilated by inundations, byeathFuakes, by a geneal con3lagation, and by the e33ect o3 destoying temests.E ?veyone o3 the 3ou elements aticiated in each o3 the catastohesH deluge, huicane,eathFuake, and 3ie gave thei names to the catastohes because o3 the edominance o3one o3 them in the uheavals. +ymbols o3 the successive suns ae ainted on the e/'olumbian liteay documents o3 6eCico. $

E'inco soles Fue son edades,E o E3ive suns that ae eochs,E wote Zmaa in hisdescition o3 the conFuest o3 6eCico. ;n analogy to this sentence o3 Zmaa may be3ound in !ucius ;melius, a oman autho, who, in his book !ibe memoialis, wote> -

E+oles 3uee FuinFueE (:hee wee 3ive suns)> It is the same belie3 that Zmaa 3ound in theNew 8old.

:he 6eCican;nnals o3 'uauhtitlan, witten in Nahua/Indian (cica #$-0) and based onancient souces, contains the tadition o3 seven sun eochs. 'hicon/:onatiuh o Ethe +even+unsE is the designation 3o the wold cycles o acts in the cosmic dama.

:he uddhist saced book o3 Visuddhi/6aggacontains a chate on E8old 'ycles.E 9 E:heeae thee destuctions> the destuction by wate, the destuction by 3ie, the destuction bywind.E ;3te the catastohe o3 the deluge, Ewhen now a long eiod has elased 3om thecessation o3 the ains, a second sun aeaed.E In the inteim the wold was enveloed ingloom. E8hen this second sun aeas, thee is no distinction o3 day and night,E but Eanincessant heat beats uon the wold.E 8hen the 3i3th sun aeaed, the ocean gaduallydied uH when the siCth sun aeaed, Ethe whole wold became 3illed with smoke.E E;3tethe lase o3 anothe long eiod, a seventh sun aeas, and the whole wold beaks into

3lames.E :his uddhist book e3es also to a moe ancient E%iscouse on the +even +uns.E #0:he ahmans called the eochs between two destuctions Ethe geat days.E ##:he +ibylline books ecite the ages in which the wold undewent destuction andegeneation. E:he +ibyl told as 3ollows> B:he nine suns ae nine ages ... Now is the seventhsun.BE :he +ibyl ohesied two ages yet to come / that o3 the eighth and o3 the ninth sun.#2

:he aboigines o3 itish Noth oneo, even today, declae that the sky was oiginally low,and that siC suns eished, and at esent the wold is illuminated by the seventh sun. #1

+even sola ages ae e3eed to in 6ayan manuscits, in uddhist saced books, in thebooks o3 the +ibyl. In all Fuoted souces the EsunsE ae eClained (by the soucesthemselves) as signi3ying consecutive eochs, each o3 which went down in a geat, geneal

destuction. %id the eason 3o the substitution o3 the wod EsunE 3o EeochE by the eoleso3 both hemishees lie in the changed aeaance o3 the luminay and in its changed athacoss the sky in each wold ageM777777777777777777777777777777# asseu> +ouces de IBhistoie imitive du 6eCiFue, . 2$.2 Genando de ;lva ICtlilCochitl> "bas =istZicas (#9# / #92), Vol. II, =istoia 'hichimeca.1 ;leCande> !atin ;meican 6ythology, . 9#. =umboldt> 9eseaches, II, #.$ 'odeC Vaticanus ;, lates vii/C. G. !. de Zmaa> 'onFuista de 6eCico(#-0 ed.), II, 2#.- !ibe memoialisiC.


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Pat #VenusNo book, o collection o3 books, in the histoyo3 mankind has had a moe attentive eading, a

wide ciculation, o moe diligent investigationthan the "ld :estament./ . =. P3ei33e, Intoduction to the "ld :estament 'ha(te #:he 6ost ncedible +toy:=? 6"+: IN'?%I!? stoy o3 miacles is told about Aoshua ben Nun who, whenusuing the 'anaanite kings at eth/hoon, imloed the sun and the moon to stand still.E;nd he said in the sight o3 Isael, +un, stand thou still uon ibeonH and thou, 6oon, inthe valley o3 ;#2/#1).:his stoy is beyond the belie3 o3 even the most imaginative o the most ious eson. 8aveso3 stomy sea may have downed one host and been meci3ul to anothe. :he eath couldcack asunde and swallow u human beings. :he Aodan could be blocked by a slice o3 itsbank 3alling into the bed o3 the ive. AeichoBs walls / not by the blast o3 tumets, but byan incidental eathFuake / could have been beached.ut that the sun and the moon should halt in thei movement acoss the 3imament / thiscould be only the oduct o3 3ancy, a oetic image, a metahoH # a hideous imlausibilitywhen imosed as a sub


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only though the telescoe, come 3lying in 3om immeasuable saces o3 the univese at veygeat seed, and disaea / ossibly 3oeve. +ome comets ae visible only 3o hous, some3o days o weeks o even months. 'oncening the wonde o3 the sun standing still> E:he+citue did not intend to teach men hilosohy, o accommodate itsel3 to the tue andPythagoic system o3 the wold.E ;nd again> E:he ohets and holy enmen themselves ...being seldom o neve hilosohes, wee not caable o3 eesenting these things othewisethan they, with the vulga, undestood them.E6ight it haen that ou eath, the eath unde ou 3eet, would oll towad eilous collisionwith a huge mass o3 meteoites, a tail o3 stones 3lying at enomous seed aound andacoss ou sola systemM:his obability was analy5ed with 3evo duing the last centuy. Gom the time o3 ;istotle,who asseted that a meteoite, which 3ell at ;egosotami when a comet was glowing in thesky, had been li3ted 3om the gound by the wind and caied in the ai and doed ovethat lace, until the yea #01 when, on ;il 2, a showe o3 meteoites 3ell at #B;igle inGance and was investigated by iot 3o the Gench ;cademy o3 +ciences, the scholalywold / and in the meantime thee lived 'oenicus, alileo alilei, 4ele, Newton, and=uygens / did not believe that such a thing as a stone 3alling 3om the sky was ossible atall. ;nd this desite many occasions when stones 3ell be3oe the eyes o3 a cowd, as did the

aeolite in the esence o3 ?meo 6aCimilian and his cout in ?nsisheim, ;lsace, onNovembe -, #92. 1"nly shotly be3oe #01, the ;cademy o3 +ciences o3 Pais e3used to believe that, onanothe occasion, stones had 3allen 3om the sky. :he 3all o3 meteoites on Auly 2, #-90 insouthwest Gance was onounced Eun hUnomTne hysiFuement imossible.E +ince theyea #01, howeve, scholas have believed that stones 3all 3om the sky. I3 a stone cancollide with the eath, and occasionally a showe o3 stones, too, cannot a 3ull/si5ed comet 3lyinto the 3ace o3 the eathM It was calculatedthat such a ossibility eCists but that it is vey unlikely to occu. $

I3 the head o3 a comet should ass vey close to ou ath, so as to e33ect a distotion in thecaee o3 the eath, anothe henomenon besides the distubed movement o3 the lanet

would obably occu> a ain o3 meteoites would stike the eath and would incease to atoent. +tones scoched by 3lying though the atmoshee would be huled on home andhead.In the ook o3 Aoshua, two veses be3oe the assage about the sun that was susended onhigh 3o a numbe o3 hous without moving to the "ccident, we 3ind this assage>E;s they the 'anaanite kingsJ 3led 3om be3oe Isael, and wee in the going down to eth/hoon ... the !od cast down geat stones 3om heaven uon them unto ;5ekah, and theydied> they wee moe which died with hail stones stones o3 baadJ than they whom thechilden o3 Isael slew with the swod.E

:he autho o3 the ook o3 Aoshua was suely ignoant o3 any connection between the twohenomena. =e could not be eCected to have had any knowledge about the natue o3aeolites, about the 3oces o3 attaction between celestial bodies, and the like. ;s these

henomena wee ecoded to have occued togethe, it is imobable that the ecods weeinvented. :he meteoites 3ell on the eath in a toent. :hey must have 3allen in vey geatnumbes 3o they stuck down moe waios than the swods o3 the advesaies. :o havekilled esons by the hundeds o thousands in the 3ield, a cataact o3 stones must have3allen. +uch a toent o3 geat stones would mean that a tain o3 meteoites o a comet hadstuck ou lanet.:he Fuotation in the ible 3om the ook o3 Aashe is laconic and may give the imessionthat the henomenon o3 the motionless sun and moon was local, seen only in Palestinebetween the valley o3 ;


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system o3 the wold.E ;nd again> E:he ohets and holy enmen themselves ... being seldom o nevehilosohes, wee not caable o3 eesenting these things othewise than they, with the vulga, undestoodthem.E1 '. P. "livie> 6eteos(#92$), . . P. etholon> Pubblica5ioni della secola astonomica Vaticana(#9#1).$ %. G. ;ago comuted on some occasion that thee is one chance in 20 million that a comet will hit the eath.Nevetheless, a hole one mile in diamete in ;i5ona is a sign o3 an actual headlong collision o3 the eath with asmall comet o asteoid. "n Aune 10, #90, a calculated 3oty/thousand ton mass o3 ion 3ell in +ibeia at 0Q $B

noth latitude and #0#Q $-B east longitude. In #9 the small iacobini / Dinne comet assed within #1#,000miles o3 the oint whee the eath was eight days late.8hile investigating whethe an encounte between the eath and a comet had been the sub E8histon 3ancied that the eath was ceated 3om the atmoshee o3 one comet, and that itwas deluged by the tail o3 anothe. :he heat which emained 3om its 3ist oigin, in his oinion, eCcited thewhole antediluvian oulation, men and animals, to sin, 3o which they wee all downed in the deluge,eCceting the 3ish, whose assions wee aaently less violent.EIgnatius %onnelly, autho, e3ome, and membe o3 the @nited +tates =ouse o3 eesentatives, tied in hisbook 9agnaok(#1) to eClain the esence o3 till and gavel on the ock substatum in ;meica and ?uoeby hyothesi5ing an encounte with a comet, which ained till on the teestial hemishee 3acing it at that

moment. =e laced the event in an inde3inite eiod, but at a time when man aleady oulated the eath.%onnelly did not show any awaeness that 8histon was his edecesso. =is assumtion that thee is till only inone hal3 o3 the eath is abitay and wong. Aoshua #0>##.- in5beg> !egends, IV, ##/#2. :his eClanation was suggested to me by 6. ;bamovich o3 :el ;viv.777777777777777777777777777777

"n the "the +ide o3 the "cean:he ook o3 Aoshua, comiled 3om the moe ancient ook o3 Aashe, elates the ode o3events. EAoshua ... went u 3om ilgal all night.E In the ealy moning he 3ell uon his

enemies unawaes at ibeon, and Echased them along the way that goes u to eth/hoon.E;s they 3led, geat stones wee cast 3om the sky. :hat same day (Ein the day when the !oddeliveed u the ;moitesE) the sun stood still ove ibeon and the moon ove the valley o3;


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(Eabout a whole dayE). :he 6idashim, the books o3 ancient taditions not embodied in the+citues, elate that the sun and the moon stood still 3o thity/siC itim, o eighteen hous, and thus 3om sunise to sunset the day lasted about thity hous.In the 6eCican annals it is stated that the wold was deived o3 light and the sun did notaea 3o a 3ou3old night. In a olonged day o night time could not be measued by theusual means at the disosal o3 the ancients. $

+ahagun, the +anish savant who came to ;meica a geneation a3te 'olumbus andgatheed the taditions o3 the aboigines, wote that at the time o3 one cosmic catastohethe sun ose only a little way ove the hoi5on and emained thee without movingH themoon also stood still.

I am dealing with the 8esten =emishee 3ist, because the biblical stoies wee not knownto its aboigines when it was discoveed. ;lso, the tadition eseved by +ahagun beas notace o3 having been intoduced by the missionaies> in his vesion thee is nothing tosuggest Aoshua ben Nun and his wa against the 'anaanite kingsH and the osition o3 thesun, only a vey little above the easten hoi5on, di33es 3om the biblical teCt, though it doesnot contadict it.8e could 3ollow a ath aound the eath and inFuie into the vaious taditions conceningthe olonged night and olonged day, with sun and moon absent o taying at di33eent

oints along the 5odiac, while the eath undewent a bombadment o3 stones in a woldabla5e. ut we must ostone this EAosuaE (#90#), . 0, in E=andcommenta 5um ;lten :estament,E ed. 4. 6ati. . ?isle> EAoshuaand the +un,E;meican Aounal o3 +emitic !anguages and !iteatue, L!= (#92), 1> EIt would have had nosense ealy in the moning o3 a battle, with a whole day ahead, to have ayed 3o the lengthening o3 the sunlighteven into the night time.E2 :he 6ayan tongue is still soken by about 100,000 eole, but o3 the 6ayan hieoglyhics only the chaactesemloyed in the calenda ae known 3o cetain.

1 4nown also as 'odeC 'himalooca. E:his manuscit contains a seies o3 annals o3 vey ancient date, manyo3 which go back to moe than a thousand yeas be3oe the 'histian eaE (asseu). +e3e =a/*asha, ed. !. oldschmidt (#921)H Pikei 9abbi ?liese(=ebew souces di33e as to how long the sunstood stillH the abylonian:almud, :actate ;boda Daa2$aH :agum =abakkuk1>##.$ 8ith the eCcetion o3 the wate clock. enadino de +ahagun (#99P X #$90)> =istoia geneal de las cosas de Nueva ?sa[a, new ed. #91 ($ vols.)and #9 (1 vols.). Gench tansl. %. Aoudanet and . +imeon (#0), . #.777777777777777777777777777777


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'ha(te 2Gi3ty/two *eas ?alie:=? P?/'"!@6I;N witten taditions o3 'ental ;meica tell us that 3i3ty/two yeasbe3oe the catastohe that closely esembles that o3 the time o3 Aoshua, anothecatastohe o3 wold dimensions had occued. # It is thee3oe only natual to go back to

the old Isaelite taditions, as naated in the +citues, to detemine whethe they containevidence o3 a coesonding catastohe.:he time o3 the 8andeing in the %eset is given by the +citues as 3oty yeas. :hen, 3o anumbe o3 yeas be3oe the day o3 the distubed movement o3 the eath, the otactedconFuest o3 Palestine went on. 2 It seems easonable, thee3oe, to ask whethe a date 3i3ty/two yeas be3oe this event wo

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