Customer Reviews

Earth in Upheaval

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Velikovsky compiled this huge list of catastrophic data in answer to one of the foolish criticisms of 1950's "Worlds In Collision" -- that it relied on 'tales and stories'. Catastrophists often rely on bits and pieces from this book, perhaps indirectly, but nowhere else can they all be found, except perhaps for William Corliss' catalogs and sourcebooks.

The only thing that has happened since "Earth In Upheaval" was published in 1955 is that even more evidence has emerged along with even more outlandish rationalizations and apologia for uniform "explanations". While this 19th century delusional system perishes, its grip on power has slipped away. Catastrophism triumphs everywhere, even in the consideration of celestial disasters in historical times.

In 1960 the Chicxulub crater was discovered by PEMEX. In 1970 someone first suggested that the dinosaurs went extinct due to an impact. In 1972 impact was shown to be the dominant force on the lunar surface. In 1980 the Alvarez team suggested it again, supporting their view with the iridium found at the K-T boundary layer. Others found similar iridium in other boundary layers. By 1990 the Chicxulub crater finally came to the attention of the impact theorists. Impact wasn't the fully accepted consensus until the 1994 impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's fragments into Jupiter.

The text has the same ease and command of Velikovsky's other books, and I found it to be a pleasure to read 20 plus years ago. I highly recommend it, particularly for those considering other books. There is still a great deal of ill-temper, hostility, and ignorance regarding Velikovsky's works, and these often take the form of a single dismissive sentence or paragraph. Living writers seem to go out of their way to dump on him, and this is particularly true among fringe authors.

See also Velikovsky's other works (new and used), David Rohl's "Pharaohs and Kings", Peter James' "Centuries of Darkness", Ryan and Pitman's "Noah's Flood", Mary Settegast's "Plato Prehistorian", and Robert Schoch's "Voices of the Rocks".

I first read this book perhaps 15 years ago, and I still remember the impact it had on me. Everything clicked in place, and so many questions were answered and substantiated, and so many predictions have been validated as our knowledge of the solar system increases.

Despite the fact that the author has been proven right in so many of his theories, recognition from the academic community is still not forthcoming. What is even more ironic is that the majority of his detractors, then and now, have not even read his books!

Due to the competition for grants and the decrease in available funds for pure research many scientists relegated new or contradictory ideas to the closet. No one wanted to rock the boat. Now, thanks to space exploration, our discoveries often outpace our theories. Hopefully this will open the door that was shut on a brilliant man years ago. Hopefully, the fact that many of our new discoveries were predicted and substantiated by a man who truly deserves the recognition so deliberately denied him, will be bought to light.

In an age when our very existence may well depend on our ability to understand science, as well as understand ourselves, the need for an open mind has never been more important.

Sadly, I lost my copy of this book and would be grateful to know where I can find another.

As I reread "Earth In Upheaval" I am struck anew by Velikovsky's disciplined scholasticism and breadth of source material, by his compunction to always include other points of view (and flaws therein), and by his clear writing style.
It is understandable why Einstein had "Worlds In Collision" open on his desk when he died, why Clifton Fadiman, who was for many years editor-in-chief of the Reader's Digest, said that Velikovsky wrote about 50 times better than most of his critics, and why it was predicted that 99% of the books on geology, archeology and ancient history would have to be rewritten.
I suggest serious Philalethists (lovers of truth) read Velikovsky in his entirety. His day is approaching.
Just one question: How can we get some new editions published, maybe on the internet, so students can see for themselves for a change why Velikovsky may well be the (persecuted) Copernicus or Gallileo of the 20th century?
A final point: although I had read "Earth In Upheaval" 30 years ago, and I've glanced at it again several times since before my recent re-read, one particular factoid stikes me hard with it's import...Velikovsky refers to beaches and fossils hundreds of feet up off the coast of South America along with aerial views of settlements, untolled numbers of them, UP TO AND EVEN INTO THE PERENNIAL SNOW LINE!!! Now how can you explain that without a catastrophic theory?
Philip Neri Lyons
goodoldphil@yahoo.com

I have read this book as well as others by this author and found it fascinating, well researched. It does challenge established science. Strict guidelines have to be followed when emitting a theory; Mr. Velikovsky seems to have done just that even though his detractors find him sensationalistic to say the least. However, science has to be challenged. That is how new discoveries are made, quite often, at the expense of the scientist's career, especially if he goes agaist the grain of accepted theories or so called "known facts". Unfortunately, Sciences' motives are not always as pure as one would want to believe. Scientists are human, therefore faillible and like everybody else, they like to protect their turf.

Earth in Upheaval, by Immanuel Velikovsky

The 'Preface' says this book is about the great changes in our planet, based on evidence from rocks, bodies, and fossils. There were great upheavals where species ceased to exist. Velikovsky says the land and the sea changed places in historical times and were documented in literature, epics, and oral traditions. Because of prior criticisms, this book will rely on "stones and bones" as the evidence. The 'Acknowledgments' list the people he consulted with. Velikovsky states that facts gathered in the last century refute the theory of slow evolution molding the world (p.9). "The Aquatic Graveyards" tell of sudden and widespread destruction.

Velikovsky tells how the reaction to the Napoleonic Wars led to a "Doctrine of Uniformity". The idea led to Darwin's theory of evolution, and a denial of rapid change. Charles Lyell admitted to "violations of continuity" in geological formations, but disregarded this since it didn't fit into his theory. Charles Darwin was a disciple of Lyell. Velikovsky tells of a case in west Yorkshire, 1450 feet above sea level, where under 12 feet of clay they found remains of the mammoth, rhinoceros, bison, hyena, hippopotamus, and other animals. Darwin made one trip to South America then used it for all his writings!

Velikovsky lists the many places where the broken bones of many animals imply a violent death from the elements, not slow extinction in a process of evolution ("Agate Spring Quarry") The entire Altiplano with its lakes rose from the bottom of the ocean given the remains of marine crustacea in Lake Titicaca ("Tiahuanacu in the Andes"). The Great African Rift may have been caused by tension which caused this split ("A Continent Torn Apart"). He also compares the Sahara and Gobi Deserts; a tectonic disturbance could have dried up rivers ("Arabia").

Chapter X begins by explaining the methods used to estimate the time of past events. It is not an exact science. Velikovsky explains the age of the Horseshoe Falls ("Niagara Falls") and the Mississippi River ("The Mississippi"). The fossil remains of humans and extinct animals suggests the Ice Age ended about 4,000 years ago ("Fossils in Florida"). The end of the Ice Age saw the extinction of many species, no matter how fit to survive ("Extinction"). Horses and camels died in the Americas but survived in Eurasia!

The theory of evolution dates back to Anaximander of classical Greece. Lamarck thought acquired characteristics would be inherited, and lead to new forms of life. Darwin's idea of evolution adopted Malthusian theory to explain "evolution"; Darwin did not agree with the theory of catastrophism (whose proponents went out of style). Darwin denied that changing physical conditions could affect life forms. Darwin realized his theory lacked proof of graduated changes. Any problem was dismissed as not being recorded in geology (the missing link). No new species have occurred in thousands of years, but species of animals have expired. Mutations can be caused by irritants: heat, chemicals, X-rays,; but these are freaks. Hybrids generally have no offspring. Velikovsky suggests that cosmic rays or radioactivity could have originated a new species. Thus only catastrophes could cause evolution. Catastrophes explain the demise of the mammoths which were highly developed, or larger animals (pp.258-259). "The End" summarizes the geological and paleontological records of earth in upheaval. An extra-terrestial agent created cosmic catastrophes that explains many world-wide phenomena.

Unlike many authors of alternative history works who jump to gaint conclusions without supporting evidence, Velikovsky make a valiant attempt to peice together the nature of catasphrofies which took place on this planet before the age of modern man. He raises very valid issues which scientists have been unable to explain satisfactorly - such as if the poles have always been where they are today why doesn't siberia, well inside the artic cycle have any effects of glaciation. Why did glaciation start from what is now the equator. Why are human artifacts found alongside animals scientist claim were extinct long before homo sapiens appeared and why do human bones and those of these extinct animals lay intermingled in huge mangled graveyards. This book will not please established science because it dares to offer an alternative view of the world. While he does jump to some conclusions, particularly in respect to 'evolution'' he does on the whole, provide an extremely thought provoking arguement. Until science can properly explain the serious questions raised by Velikovsky the contents of this book cannot be dismissed. Persons who are considering reading this book should first read Velikovsky's other book "Worlds in Collision" first.

Velikovsky undermines much conventional wisdom concerning the natural earth. He brings up many embarrassing inconsistencies of established theories and makes a compelling case for his own. He seems to be able to effectively tie together different scientific disciplines such as geology, astronomy, paleontology, and evolution. Even though this book is usually relegated to alternative science, I didn't find it so far-fetched as to be unbelievable. It is well researched, written in an academic style, and leads the reader systematically to a logical conclusion.

This was not only an exciting read but it was bold courageous and I am sure blaspheme to the died in the wool adherent to evolution. In his book Immanuel Velikovsky deals with something that has always struck me strange, coal, how did it form, sometimes in layers fifty foot think. The lignite that I find around the area of my home in the Pacific Northwest is chalk full of fossil. Some so perfect I can clearly count the striations in the leaf formation. I have never been able to accept the explaination for coal and how it comes about. I believe Velikovsky has explained it perfectly to my satisfaction.
Many call his science flawed, yet today evolution is being disproved by the study of the stars and the youngness of the universe.
Why if evolution is taking place have we seen nothing in times of written history, only extinction.
I am a woodsman and experienced hunter, I know the woods are full of game and yet in my many years of hunting I have only found one skull of a young bear.
This I have never been able to understand, when there is so much condenced discovery of fossils in certain areas. What caused this? In this book Immanuel Velikovsky explains well beyond normal reasoning why.
In reveiws of this book many have said that the book is not science, I believe that the preponderance of evidence is always science and that theory is without merit when science proves it wrong. As I said earlier to the adherent of evolution this book is blaspheme, the reason is because evolution, is a religion, it is and has to be accepted by faith. The evolutionist is the adherent of the religion and is offended when his or her belief system is attacked...

While not an easy read (lots of footnotes and references) it's well worth the effort. Once again Velikovsky has mountains of evidence (this time of an irrefutable geological type) that tremendous cataclisms have altered life on earth as we know it, and within the past 4000-5000 years to boot. Awesome! It's just incredible that the things that branded him a heretic 50 years ago are being proven true through modern science

I've been a devotee of Velikovsky's work for nearly 40 years, particularly his historical reconstruction. But his cosmic thesis, whether right or wrong, was also compelling, and it is atrocious to hear the slander in some of these reviews of his books heaped on them by people who simply assume he was wrong without saying why, or assume that conventional science was correct without even questioning.

No scholar since Einstein shook the shoulders of our minds as Velikovsky did, and in a greater number of academic fields than Einstein did. Worlds in Collision, his massive best-seller, was based on the writings, myths and legends of ancient peoples, but Earth in Upheaval was strictly a collection of geological and paleontological evidence without a shred of literary or mythological information.

What's more, I followed up on much of his research, and it's all true. It points to a violent past within historical times that too many scholars went to great pains to deny. Of all the books by Velikovsky which bigoted scholars have "refuted," many without even reading them, this is the most unassailable of them all. It is hard fact, electrifying reading and compelling evidence that massive celestial and terrestrial cataclysms once shook the foundations of our planet.