Global InformationImmanuel Velikovsky information
Immanuel Velikovsky | |
|---|---|
 Immanuel Velikovsky at the 1974 American Association for the Advancement of Science Conference in San Francisco | |
| Born | 10 June 1895 Vitebsk, Russian Empire (in present-day Belarus) |
| Died | 17 November 1979 (aged 84) Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
Immanuel Velikovsky (/ˌvɛliˈkɒfski/; Russian: Иммануи́л Велико́вский, IPA: [ɪmənʊˈil vʲɪlʲɪˈkofskʲɪj]; 10 June [O.S. 29 May] 1895 – 17 November 1979) was a Russian-American psychoanalyst, writer, and catastrophist.[1][2][3] He is the author of several books offering pseudohistorical interpretations of ancient history, including the U.S. bestseller Worlds in Collision published in 1950.[4] Velikovsky's work is frequently cited as a canonical example of pseudoscience and has been used as an example of the demarcation problem.[5]
His books use comparative mythology and ancient literary sources (including the Old Testament) to argue that Earth suffered catastrophic close contacts with other planets (principally Venus and Mars) in ancient history. In positioning Velikovsky among catastrophists including Hans Bellamy, Ignatius Donnelly, and Johann Gottlieb Radlof,[6] the British astronomers Victor Clube and Bill Napier noted "... Velikovsky is not so much the first of the new catastrophists ...; he is the last in a line of traditional catastrophists going back to mediaeval times and probably earlier."[7] Velikovsky argued that electromagnetic effects play an important role in celestial mechanics. He also proposed a revised chronology for ancient Egypt, Greece, Israel, and other cultures of the ancient Near East. The revised chronology aimed at explaining the so-called "dark age" of the eastern Mediterranean (c. 1100–750 BC) and reconciling biblical accounts with mainstream archaeology and Egyptian chronology.
In general, Velikovsky's theories have been ignored or vigorously rejected by the academic community.[8] Nonetheless, his books often sold well and gained enthusiastic support in lay circles, often fuelled by claims of unfair treatment of Velikovsky by orthodox academia.[9][10][11][12] The controversy surrounding his work and its reception is often referred to as "the Velikovsky affair".[13][14][15]
- ^ Immanuel Velikovsky at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Goodman, George (18 November 1979). "Immanuel Velikovsky, Who Wrote 'Worlds in Collision,' Is Dead at 84". The New York Times.
- ^ Bader, Christopher D. (1 August 2014). "The Pseudo-Science Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe". Nova Religio. 18 (1): 123–125. doi:10.1525/nr.2014.18.1.123.
- ^ Princeton University press release, July 29, 2005 [https://web.archive.org/web/20080822012133/http://www.ruthvelikovskysharon.com/immanuel.html Archived August 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (quoted on website of Ruth Velikovsky Sharon)
- ^ Gordin, Michael D. (2012). The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe. Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-30442-7.
- ^ "Johann Gottlieb Radlof — The Velikovsky Encyclopedia". Velikovsky.info. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ Clube, S. V. M. and Bill Napier 1984. Velikovskians In Collision. Quadrant (Sydney). Jan.-Feb., pp. 33–34; reprinted in Kronos vol. IX, no. 3, 1984. pp. 44–49.
- ^ Trevor Palmer, Perilous Planet Earth: Catastrophes and Catastrophism through the Ages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-81928-8. pp. 116–119.
- ^ Morrison, David (2001). Velikovsky at Fifty: Cultures in Collision on the Fringes of Science. Skeptic, 9 (1), 62–76; reprinted in Shermer, Michael (editor) (2002). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, Santa Barbara, Calif. ISBN 1-57607-653-9. 473–488.
- ^ Cohen, Daniel (1967). Myths of the Space Age, Dodd Mead. LCCN 67-25108. Chap. VIII, Immanuel Velikovsky — the Man Who Challenged the World, pp. 172–94.
- ^ Gordon, Theodore J. (1966). Ideas in Conflict, St. Martin's Press. LCCN 66-23261. Chap. 2, The Miracles of Exodus, pp. 18–48.
- ^ Fair, Charles (1974). The New Nonsense: The End of the Rational Consensus, Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-21822-0. Chap. viii, Speaking of Flying Objects ..., pp. 139–86.
- ^ Bauer, Henry H. (1992). The Velikovsky Affair Aeon, 2 (6), 75–84. Homestead.com This article, a comprehensive overview, originally appeared in Dec. 1988 La Recherche, pp. 1448–55.
- ^ Bauer, Henry H. (1996). Velikovsky, Immanuel, in Gordon Stein (editor), The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-021-5. pp. 781–788.
- ^ Grove, J. W. (1989). In Defence of Science: Science, technology, and politics in modern society, University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-2634-6. Chap. 5, Pseudo-science, pp. 120–50; adapted from Grove, J. W. (1985). Rationality at Risk: Science against Pseudoscience. Minerva, 23 (2), 216-40.