Customer Reviews

Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book with great anticipation...was on the waiting list for months! When it finally became available I couldn't wait to read it. I flipped through it in even more anticipation at the fantastic pictures and illustrations once I got it.

I have to say I was thrilled and dissappointed all at once. The content of the book was absolutely fascinating. The author stirred up subjects that totally engulfed me; but as I'd read into each, I found him wandering off into some other rather uninteresting part of the subject and leaving me dieing to get back to the origional thought...which he often didn't. I got the feeling that he hurried the book and that it never really got edited... Thoughts ran off the page and never got finished; as if pages were missing from the printing.

I'd like to see this entire book re-thought and rewritten, because the CONTENT of the book is astounding to say the least. I'd recommend it to anyone who's digging into ancient history/origins because it has so much interesting material. But I would certainly warn them that it's not a well written or easy to follow book. I actually found myself getting bored with the author's wandering thoughts, especially when he teased with a fascinating subject, then wandered off to la la land.

The topics are covered in a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Breathless Rush that leaves the reader wondering where it all will lead. Because there is no index, you will find it difficult to go back and find the inscrutible passages. Because there are virtually no margins (1/4 inch instead of a standard 1 inch) there is no place to write notes or even put stickums without affecting the text. The lines are closely leaded (too close together for comfortable reading) perhaps to save paper or cut costs, but regardless, a less-than-comfortable reading experience. Numerous anecdotes and examples are repeated, as if nobody bothered to edit the text, but rather just wrote it down from a transcribed tape or video. The lack of attention to these basics of book-reader's expectations makes you wonder about the validity of the contents. Good info, but bad format.

Even if you do not agree with everything in this book, this author does a great job of discussing technology that ancient people had. The text is highlighted by pictures that enhance many of this statements he makes. The author does a great job of taking information from a variety of sources to prove his points and clarify his writing.

My two complaints are that some of the pictures are so small that they are frustrating because you can't see much of the detail. Second, the assumption is made that you know about many of the places in this book and I don't. I had never heard of many of these places until reading this book. I would have appreciated a few maps to help clarify where some of these places are.

Great book. Very interesting. Enjoy.

For those not researching much of what is written in Technology of the Gods, the stories would appear to be so fascinatingly convincing and wild and, for the most part, they are! However, if one were to REALLY do a little research and see how much of what Childress write is actually TRUE, they would find that much (and I would say, most) of it is just plain science fiction. Period. As I read Technology of the Gods, wanted badly to verify the accuracy of what Childress claimed, because as it turned out, the book made ever more outrageous claims as you get deeper and deeper into the book.

I wouldn't know where to start with a review, but a few facts stand out. For one, Childress quotes very extensively (and almost to the point of making his own analysis mute) several authors, such as Andrew Tomas, who have been known to write falsities themselves. Tomas is a good example. Most of what Tomas writes about cannot be tracked down mostly because he never left any sources for his outrageous claims. The "Vedic UFO's" from which Childress gets most of his ancient Indian Vimana ideas from (including illustrations of them) were inspired by a book, Vaimanika Shastra, that was claimed to have been "channeled" by the transcribed author, Pandit Subbaraya Shastry. Childress performs these same erroncies in which claims cannot be traced, verified, or researched. This is not science...this is pseudoscience. Or better yet: science fiction. This is a type of religion, in which you must simply believe what is said and leave it at that.

Another problem I found with Technology of the Gods is that there were half-truths (in which the whole explanation or alternative, and more realistic, answer seems to be ignored and not written about) or there were outright lies associated with many of Childress' claims. Quick examples:

-the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull: was actually bought at an auction by Mitchell himself...not found at an archeological dig, as he claimed. But this explanation is never written about by Childress,

-the "metallic vessel" from Dorchester, MA was found near a mine in loose rubble, not, as Childress claims, "blown out of solid rock",

-the Coso Artifact, was found inside of a ball of hard clay, not, as Childress claims, a geode. Also, the object was found, under intense investigation, to be identical to a, then current, 1920's Champion spark plug, probably from mining equipment of the area. Of course none of this is ever mentioned or written about by Childress,

-the Iron Pillar of Delhi: not rusted due, possibly, to the high content of phosphorus film on its surface from the manufacture of it and also to its thickness. (None mentioned in Technology of the Gods),

and many more! In short, a book would need to be written that described the many inaccuracies and missleading information contained in Technology of the Gods. The book makes for some great science fiction, but not knowing anything about the subject matters written about and not researching any of the claims made by the author will lead one into believing a false religion.

This book was quite a disappointment, it's poorly written, and contains so much nonsense that anyone with even a modicum of education will question his conclusions.

Just look at the references if you want some examples. The sections on Vimanas, for example is referenced on the Vyimanika Shastra, a book written by Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, who believed that all the information from ancient time is available in the airwaves, and just need someone tuned in to them to access it. He 'channeled' this information, and dictated the book sometime around 1919..... not in the 4th century BC as claimed by Childress. He even includes pictures drawn an engineering student sometime around 1955. Just a quick glance will tell you he clearly slept through all of his physics, and aerodynamics lectures, and Childress suggests they are part of the original text.

Childress does raise some interesting points, however he discredits himself so often with wild claims and poor or no referencing, that the book reads like a work of fiction. Several times his only reference is that a story was published in a news paper - hardly a ringing endorsement of truth. I have a book on Myths and Urban legends, and almost every one of them was published in a news paper at some time or another.

Such a shame really as the subject matter is very interesting, and many others have done this subject much more justice. I will admit that it was an interesting read, but I found myself laughing more than being gripped by new an intriguing information - and page 164 being repeated verbatim on page 204 was just sloppy, but that's just representative of the book as a whole really.

If you can spare $10 and a bit of your time, have a read. You might find something of interest in there. Just do a bit of homework before you tell your friends about what you read, or you'll look like a right plonker as much of what he writes has been disproven, or comes from such dubious sources that you'd be foolish to repeat it (as he has).

In Technology Of The Gods, David Childress documents the science and achievements of long-lost civilizations which are comparable to, and in some cases even exceeded, our own level of advancement. Contrary to scholastic traditions, humankind has not progressed in a steadily upward linear progression. The ancients had technologies that cannot be replicated by the science of today. Technology Of The Gods introduces us to antiquarian achievements such as the structures built by the megalithic cultures, the use of crystal lenses and the "fire from the gods" in both ancient religious ceremonies and warfare; ancient flight and the archaic documents describing the technology. Fascinating, challenging, controversial, informative, Childress' Technology Of The Gods is an informative survey and reference for students of history, science, and metaphysics.

I enjoyed this book immensely, apart from typographical errors poor editing and poor science this is a classic. I think the best bit is "heavy protons in mercury." Does this mean that protons in other elements are lighter?...not...

A more scientific approach such as..this may be...or even, perhaps this could be..or, one interpretation... One doesn't expect too much use of passive voice past impersonal, but it would lend more credibility to some of the shallow arguments presented in this book if this had been done.

I for one certainly believe there is nothing new under the sun. Some of the artifacts presented in this book are extraordinary and require more thorough scientific study and presentation.

This is a great book that is easy and fun to read. It takes your mind on a journey of adventure and forces the reader to think. My copy is filled with all kinds of penciled in notes, and it served me well. After I read this book I then went and followed up on other articles and issues that were raised in the book. It took me on an adventure that continues to this day. If you want to know about our past, and are tired of the stories of cavemen with greasy and dirty hands living in caves, then read this book. You will not regret it.

Childress had a good title. The headings to his chapters sound great, but it's all sizzle and no steak.

Clark & Agnew's, "The Ark of Millions of Years," fills in all the blanks left by Childress' "Tech." From it I learned why the ancient wars were fought, and who the leaders were. I learned why the pyramids were built, who built them, and why the builders are no longer here.

But, the most important piece, and I mean this one will astound you, is their chapter "The Arrival of Noah." When you learn how the earth was put together and why the human race is here in the first place, it will change everything.

Mr. Childress. Work on a throrough second edition of this book. In the mean time, buy The Ark of Millions of Years. You'll never be the same.

David Childress in "Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients" presents a fascinating compilation of inconsistencies that appear in the archaeological record of the ancient past that deviate from main stream knowledge in the world of academia. Childress does a good job presenting a wide variety of views on humanity's hidden past that in many cases is right in front of us, just being interpreted in a different way.

Childress briefly touches upon an assortment of speculative high technology present in ancient times. He quotes other authors very extensively and he presents very little of his own analysis and research.

The book would have been easier to follow if a map would have been inserted in the beginning and if the illustrations were listed and had been larger. Also it would have helped if they followed along beside the text alleviating the problem of flipping back and forth to find them.

His sources in the bibliography make it easy to do further research on specific topics for follow-up. However, because there is no index it is difficult to look up specific information to be used for reference. Unfortunately as some others have mentioned the margins leave little room for personal notes and comments to be entered for my own reference. For both those reasons my copy now has numerous "Post Its" for my own indexing and notes. As others have pointed out the book could have been edited a little better, there are sentences that are annoying to read because they distract the reader from the subject matter. The little pictures on many pages with no captions were a little annoying at first, but I got over it as I became absorbed in the text.

What I found most intriguing was Chapter 7 "The Earth As A Giant Power Plant", in particular Christopher Dunn's theories about the level of ancient society's advancement using only tools and artifacts that have been found to date. Dunn, a British engineer applies his expertise in modern machining and engineering methods to try and determine how ancient artifacts were produce or erected. Something to make one think is Dunn's assertion in regards to Egyptian Pyramids and other large monument is "For the most part, primitive tools that are discovered are considered contemporaneous with the artifacts of the same period. Yet during this period in Egyptian history, artifacts were produced in prolific number with no tools surviving to explain their creation" (page 365). The precision that he and others claim in regards to the fitting of cut stone is incredible. If nothing else will gap your attention as it did mine is another assertion by Dunn "In the Great Pyramid alone, there are an estimated 2,300,000 blocks of stone, both limestone and granite, weighing between 2 tons and 70 tons each. That is a mountain of evidence, and there are no tools surviving to explain its creation" (page279). The are some copper tools, some, that have survived, but with the tens of thousands of workers that main stream archaeologist claim were needed to built the Pyramids there should be mountain of tools left behind. Archaeologists have more evidence of Clovis points than tools used thousands of years latter. Dunn's contention is that Egyptians must have had other forms of technology that we have still not found.

The book was fascinating to read, notwithstanding the problems I listed above. The pictures and illustrations while disappointing in size and clarity were interesting. While I may not agree on some of the subject matter it gave me a starting point to do further reading on many of the issues Childress presents. Readers of this book have to decide for themselves the evidence presented by Childress. I give it 4 stars because the material is interesting and begs further research.