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140 of 170 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Use it as a piece to a gigantic puzzle..., November 4, 2003
To begin with, I give this book 4 stars and not 5 because it would be arrogant of me to offer the highest mark when i happen to have only surface knowledge on the majority of the issues this books deals with. Having said that, i find it comical if not outright hilarious that certain people give one star because that would imply they can actually take every argument this book offers apart! Now, for those that have actually read the Sirius Mystery thesis, we're talking about not one argument here, but dozens which this researcher uses to put together a central argument. This would mean that the people who are burying this book are ultra-masters of archaeology, mythology, astronomy and history. Well, guess what: they are not. Guess again: no such masters exist (R.Temple included) and all that is going on is that we're basically trying to battle our cluelessness of our origin and history and as we do we find out that the mysteries we need to explain are by no means easy tasks.
The Piri Reis maps? Water erosion on the Sphinx? Come again? Noone, certainly not mainstream science has offered adequate explanations (to put it mildly) about these mysteries and the same goes about the human origin. No need to mention the ever eluding missing link, is there?
Why do i give this book 4 stars myself then? I'll hold that explanation, if i may, for the end of this review. For the "uniinitiated", Robert Temple trigers his research by starting from the FACT that a tribe called Dogon in Africa happens to have knowledge about the Sirius star system they are not supposed to have i.e that Sirius A is "hiding" in its orbit a Sirius B and possibly a Sirius C (recently confirmed much to the dismay of the fanatical opposition Temple was met with, very unsurprisingly), or that Sirius B is a "heavy star" i.e a very dense star. Now, when this knowledge by the Dogon was revealed to the western world (through the work of 2 French anthropologists) many of the things claimed by the ancient tradition of the Dogon were not known by western astronomers. In fact, only years later it became evident for western "science" (the same science that used to think the earth was flat, and the same "science" that only 300 years ago disputed that theere is blood circulation in the human body-!!!!- among many other such "scientific" facts) that the Dogon beliefs were solid. Before i go on, i would like to laugh out loud at the ultragullible folk who think the Dogon took this knowledge from western expeditioners as Carl Sagan ridiculously suggested. I mean, what's the scenario here people? Western expeditioners show up to the Dogon and the first thing they decide to brainwash them with is stories about the Sirius star system which they themselves did NOT have? I mean, are some of you that irrational? And how does it go on according to you then? That the Dogon lost no time in constructing a religion out of something so abstract i.e a star they could NOT see from stories some white people told them that they couldnt possibly prove???? Nice one, but i've heard better jokes, and frankly, this is hardly a laughing matter, it's actually bitter how some will cling to hardly proven theories about our origins no matter how sad their outtake is... But on to the book and excuse me for the above parenthetical argument but i simply couldnt resist it. What Temple is forced to do after he presents us with what the Dogon know, is to backtrack. He has to do this because there is indeed more than enough evidence that such bizzare references (as the Dogon's) are to be found in other ancient cultures as well, namely the Sumerians, Egyptians and the Greeks. His "hunch" proves to be very revealing as Temple searches through these ancient cultures because he does actually highlight not a few but a plethora of such references, symbolisms and -mostly- myths that contribute to his argument. Did i say myths? Whoa. Touchy little subject those myths. Those who consider themselves serious studiers of all theories concerning our tortured origin must've discovered by now that mythology is nothing else than a brilliantly devised method the ancients used to preserve knowledge. Whoa again, because knowledge does include history and in the absence of books the ancients basically coded history into mythology. Is Temple the only one who has uncovered this mega-fact? Not even close. The author then, needs to trouble us with a lengthy diatribe where he delves into ancient mythology and he focuses for that matter in the medditteranean basin. That's a seriously difficult part of the book to get through. You will be bombarded with dozens of ancient gods, dozens of ancient myth comparisons, massive amounts of etymology, and a fair share of speculations and conclusions. The reward if you stay with the book is tremendous. Temple doesnt pull his conclusions out of thin air no matter how "outworldly" these conclusions might be to some. His work is spectacularly researched and supported, and yes, he actually pulls the evidence for the support he needs from mainstream science. His massive bibliography is there to see. The issue remains whether , at the end, you are ready to entertain the notion that the origin of our civilisation is indeed extraterrestrial, or, to be more to the point here, whether Temple convinces with his arguments. Allow me to say, that it will take a lot more than Temple's book to be convinced about that, if that is actually the truth. Let's not forget that he's not the first researcher that makes such claims or draws such conclusions.
In my opinion, and knowing that our "mainstream" science doesnt exactly have a history of excellence when it comes to its field record, i would suggest that each theory forwarded by any researcher, no matter how "wild" it might be, is given the appropriate attention.
Has Temple been disproven? Hardly. Actually, recent discoveries by our brilliant scientists have only confirmed parts of his theory. I'm not saying that I, for one, am 100% convinced by what Temple suggests. I'm not unconvinced either, indeed I think that he does a stunning job of laying out his theory and his arguments, and to quote an Arab philosopher "i believe in very little but i disbelieve in even less".
That is the reason i give this book 4 stars. Based solely on the convcincingness factor of the author's way of argumentation which i found pretty damn strong. This book, as other books of that "line" as well, can or should be used as pieces to a puzzle, a puzzle which we do not know what it looks like and where it will finally (if we ever solve it) take us. If the truth interests us, if it honestly does, then hysteric rants against any theories that threaten our sacred dogmas have no place in searching for any origin, ours, or the universe's...
"The Sirius mystery" is a difficult book, but a very compelling, a very impressive one at that. Until the theory contained in it is disproven hold the noise of the rants down. And read it...Read it actually through.
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78 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievable - if you believe, November 10, 2000
Once again you have a chance to encounter the mysteries of the humankind's past, this time - with a help of Robert Temple, the author of The Sirius Mystery.The subject of the book is incredibly fascinating: most of us are used to seek the lost knowledge cases in civilizations like ancient Egypt, or Olmecs, or Maya; here we face a situation when an african tribe may possess the knowledge of a high value that is linked closely to the achievements of modern astronomy. That is rather a key point of the whole book - the Dogon who seem to know too much - about the things they can not know anything about, and their legends that tell us about their ancestors that came from another world. As in many other cases, the main advantage of The Sirius Mystery is its thought-provoking power, its ability to mobilize and activate a reader's imagination and logical thinking. The beliefs of the Dogon may be slightly confusing, the way they got their sacred knowledge about Sirius may be the one the author suggests, or may be different - it does not matter too much: there seem to be a knowledge anomaly happened in Africa, and we would better find out what caused it, since solving this more or less recent puzzle may help us with investigating the ancient mysteries, such as locating and building the Egyptian pyramids, the Chinese ones, or mysteries of technological achievements of the ancient Middle East. The past of the Dogons may be linked to the ancient Egypt, or to any other ancient civilization of this planet, and the author's conclusions about the paleocontact may be not so convincing to some, the other thing, however, once again is more important: there is a place for mysteries like this, and by no means should we discard any of them, saying "it can not be, because it can never be", and the Dogon mystery should be given a careful and complete study. Those who are still non-believers would better address the issues, for example, of the 14th century maps of Antarctica, or astronomical knowledge of ancient Egypt or Mesoamerica, or anything else: the world is full of the lost or mysterical knowledge cases, and some of them are supporetd by a hard evidence. In short, the book is a must-read for anyone paying a serious attention to the problems of history, civilizations' development and the lost knowledge we are trying to find.
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30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Agree or not, Dr. Temple puts fourth an honest hypothesis, February 12, 2005
I had become aware of this book in graduate school where I studied ancient history, and in fact had thumbed through it and dismissed it as so much silliness. However, recently one of my own readers had said she found the book fascinating. As she is an archeologist herself, I thought perhaps I had made a quick and unfair judgment. I immediately ordered a copy of the new edition titled "The Sirius Mystery: New Scientific Evidence for Alien Contact 5,000 Years Ago." To begin with, let me state that I have written at length on the topic of alien life, of ancient contacts, and I have appeared on numerous radio programs where I have defended and discussed my ideas and beliefs in a cosmos filled with life. Now, I opened my new copy of Temple's book ready to be convinced of ancient contacts, which many of my colleagues would consider an easy task as it would buttress my own ideas, but alas, after a few short chapters I was disappointed. Dr. Temple does make some excellent points, as well as raising some interesting questions. Yet many historical and archaeological points he has made would bring about very different opinions when examined by those not so willing to leap to the ancient alien contact hypothesis. I would also add that quoting science fiction writers, albeit remarkably brilliant ones and filling the book with the unfounded opinions of writers such as Zachariah Stichin will not convince anyone seriously considering the historical argument of alien contact. It will however, shore up those whose only reason for purchasing this book is to reaffirm that which they are already convinced. I was once asked if it would surprise me to learn that Earth had been visited many times by advanced beings? My answer was absolutely not. I almost expect it. However, despite my own ideas and beliefs, has it happened in fact? There is absolutely no proof beyond a few anecdotal stories, which can easily be understood in other ways, for example, a global flood to explain fossils. In the end, the author, a distinguished member of several scientific organizations make a good basic argument for his belief, yet it remains, at least to the critical mind, unconvincing. It is, nonetheless a worthy read by anyone interested in subjects like ancient civilizations, and is far more logical than many books of this type. Why any of the agencies purported to have harassed Dr. Temple would do so is anyone's guess. However, I would certainly not deny such events have and do occur. The structure and clearly honest research demand at least 4 stars.
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