I have always been interested in the world’s mysteries. This is why I studied theoretical physics. Ultimately, this scientific pathway led to a permanent position in the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. But archaeology is also fascinating, and I was lucky enough to decode some ancient symbols at one of the world’s most important archaeological sites, Göbekli Tepe. The resulting story combines archaeology, astronomy and geophysics to present a new synthesis for the origin of civilization. My academic background in science has helped me to provide compelling evidence and arguments for these ideas.
This book trail-blazed the new scientific discipline of coherent catastrophism back in 1982. Based on ideas in a couple of their earlier academic papers, Profs. Clube and Napier make the case for an important new class of cosmic impact event, one caused by fragmenting comets trapped within the inner solar system.
I found the book to be essential reading to understand how such events can occur and how they have hitherto been largely overlooked by science. It introduced me to a fascinating new view of the solar system. I also found it interesting to see how, in the intervening 40 years, the author’s scientific arguments and predictions are mostly borne out, especially by the Younger Dryas impact, circa 10,850 BC.
Argues that comets occasionally strike the Earth causing climatic changes and that they have had a greater effect on human history than previously believed
This book continues where Cosmic Serpent left off. It’s the New Testament to The Cosmic Serpent’s old one. Published 8 years after the former, it provides even more details on the cometary astronomy of coherent catastrophism along with a healthy dollop of ancient history.
Just like The Cosmic Serpent, I found this book to be essential reading for the coherent catastrophism enthusiast. Indeed, their books are highly prescient, being published long before the Younger Dryas impact became such a hot topic. In my view, Clube and Napier deserve a Nobel Prize.
During five days in late June 1975, a swarm of boulders the size of motor cars struck the moon at a speed of 67,000 miles per hour. On 30 June 1908 an object crashed on Siberia with the force of a large hydrogen bomb. The moon was also struck on 25 June 1178 struck, this time by a missile whose energy was ten times that of the combined nuclear arsenals of the world. Why late June? What is the nature of such events? And what threat do they pose to mankind? The authors aim to reveal the answers in this…
This is a great introduction to the science of the Younger Dryas impact. Published a year before the seminal paper of Firestone et al. (2007), it makes the case for a devastating cosmic event, probably a meteor or comet impact, circa 10850 BC.
The book combines science with historical accounts and mythology to arrive at this stunning conclusion. Although I think some of the evidence in the book is speculative and possibly wrong, I think their main arguments in 2006 have held up well to intense scrutiny by critics since then. I consider this book to be another essential read for the coherent catastrophist enthusiast.
Scientific proof validating the legends and myths of ancient floods, fires, and weather extremes
* Presents scientific evidence revealing the cause of the end of the last ice age and the cycles of geological events and species extinctions that followed
* Connects physical data to the dramatic earth changes recounted in oral traditions around the world
* Describes the impending danger from a continuing cycle of catastrophes and extinctions
There are a number of puzzling mysteries in the history of Earth that have yet to be satisfactorily explained by mainstream science: the extinction of the dinosaurs, the vanishing of ancient…
Prof Mike Baillie presents a fascinating account of how ancient comet impacts, largely a result of coherent catastrophism, might have altered the course of history. Baillie, an eminent dendrochronologist, argues how comets and their impacts might have been instrumental in forming ancient myths and religions across the world.
Even though the examples he provides a far from watertight, I consider his general viewpoint almost certainly correct. And that makes this another essential read for the coherent catastrophist enthusiast.
Professor Mike Baillie argues that the Earth has undergone several catastrophic encounters with comets, or their debris, over the last five thousand years, and that these cosmic devastations are accurately preserved in Old Testament and Chinese texts, and in many myths and legends across the world. This extraordinary scenario is based on the scientific analysis of ancient tree-ring patterns. It is only now, with the firm chronological framework provided by the tree rings, that the story can be put together. There is no doubt that the story is surprising. However, it would be easier to believe that the account in…
Prof. Palmer combines his expertise in evolutionary theory with several other disciplines, including geology, history, and anthropology, to provide a detailed and authoritative yet thoroughly engaging history of the debate around catastrophism versus gradualism.
I found this book incredibly useful in placing the new science of coherent catastrophism in context. Ultimately, it shows again that geologists need to listen more to astronomers. I particularly appreciated the lesson in the history of science it provides as well as its balanced and scientific treatment of topics that some geologists decry as pseudoscience.
Perilous Planet Earth places our concern about the threat to Earth from asteroids and comets within an historical context, looking at the evidence for past events within the geological and historical records. The book looks at the way in which prevailing views about modes of global change have changed dramatically over the years. It also considers the way in which catastrophic events are now seen to have influenced the course of evolution in the distant past, as well as the rise and fall of civilisations in more recent times. Professor Palmer argues that the better we understand our past, the…
My book combines archaeology, astronomy, and geophysics to decode one of the world's most important archaeological sites: Göbekli Tepe. Expanding on my published academic papers, the book explains in detail how symbols carved on the ancient megalithic pillars at Göbekli Tepe likely record the devastating Younger Dryas impact circa 10,850 BC.
This cosmic impact event is thought to have been caused by Earth’s collision with a stream of comet debris orbiting within the Taurid meteor stream. It also explains how this event, which is considered a prime example of coherent catastrophism, might have ushered in the Neolithic revolution, leading eventually to the beginning of civilization. Essentially, civilization might have begun with a bang!
