Worlds in Collision: Velikovsky on Earth’s Catastrophic History

Many ancient traditions from around the world refer to a disturbance in the Earth’s orderly rotation, causing the sun to appear to stand still. The Russian-born American scientist-physician Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky (1895-1979) theorized in his 1950 bestseller Worlds in Collision that a large celestial body—a comet (now the planet Venus)—separated from Jupiter and passed near Earth, exerting an attraction sufficiently powerful to slow the Earth’s rotation and change its axis, causing innumerable land and ocean catastrophes. This event, he postulated, occurred around 1500 B.C. Many scientists, Egyptologists, and other academics metaphorically burned Velikovsky as a heretic at the stake for his revolutionary ideas. Nevertheless, his “bold and unfettered voyages of discovery” have profoundly influenced the lives and beliefs of humankind. (1)

Seasons of the Earth’s. Source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/slides/images/base/iceage08.gif; accessed June 8, 2007.

Who Was Immanuel Velikovsky?

Immanuel Velikovsky was born in Sosoniki, near Vitebsk, Russia (now the city is in Belarus) on June 10, 1895, the third son of a prosperous Jewish family. He studied mathematics, physics, and biology at the University of Montpelier in France and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and medicine at the University of Moscow where he received his medical degree in 1921. Between 1924 and 1939, he lived in what is today Israel where in 1928 he began his specialization in psychiatry and psychoanalysis and published numerous scientific papers, including one that was the first to characterize epilepsy as an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain, which encephalograms could document.

During his years in Palestine, Velikovsky “came upon the idea that traditions and legends and memories of generic origin can be treated in the same way in which we treat in psychoanalysis the early memories of a single individual.” (1) He trusted historical testimony, believing that the historical documents of the ancients must have very great observational value. The common belief then (and now) was that “historical testimony should not be trusted at all, even when hundreds of documents corroborate one another, if they are the basis for revolutionary conclusions affecting astronomy.” (2)

Immanuel Velikovsky as a young man. Source: http://www.varchive.org/; accessed June 8, 2007.	Earliest known photo of Velikovsky (circa 1920). Source: http://www.varchive.org/dy/photo.htm; accessed June 8, 2007.

In 1939, with World War II looming, Velikovsky with his family traveled to New York where he feverishly began work on his masterpiece Worlds in Collision. In the writing of this book, he expressed his belief that “the collective memory of humankind spoke of a series of global catastrophes that occurred in historical times. “I believed that I could even identify the exact times and the very agents of the great upheavals of the more recent past,” he wrote. “The conclusions at which I arrived compelled me to cross the frontiers into various fields of science—archaeology, geology, and astronomy. The result was a book, a prolegomenon,” “which shatter[ed] accepted concepts on record.” (3) Velikovsky paid dearly for his notoriety with episodes of severe depression, one of which landed him in the hospital for a month.

After eight publishing houses rejected Worlds in Collision, Doubleday agreed to publish it. Within two months, it was a best seller where it remained for about 20 weeks. At the time of this writing, Worlds in Collision is available only in the Hebrew translation, though many used copies are available. In the late 1990s, Velikovsky’s descendants placed many of his manuscripts, essays and correspondence online at the Velikovsky Archive and presented his entire written archive to Princeton University Library. (4,5)

Velikovsky’s Collision Theory

Velikovsky believed that ancient peoples from around the world who wrote down their devastating experiences during global catastrophes were voicing real circumstances, not allegories or metaphors. Velikovsky believed that he could use these memories to systematize knowledge in a scientific manner, science that overcrossed the disciplines of geology, astronomy, and archaeology.

For example, from the Old Testament he noted that Joshua (successor to Moses) saw the sun stand still for about 24 hours over Palestine during a battle with the kings of the Amorites. (6) Further east, the Iranians saw the sun suspended several days in the sky. In China are records during the reign of the Emperor Yahou indicating that the sun did not set for a number of days as all the forests burned. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Earth, the night did not end for a long time, according to the Mexican Nahua-Indian Annals of Cuauhtitlan. American aborigines told an early Spanish priest in the New World about a great catastrophe, in which the sun had risen only a little way above the horizon, and then stood still. (7) Using established historical dates, Velikovsky confidently dated the strange behavior of the sun to the middle of the second millennium before the present era.

Structure of a comet. Source: http://www.weather.gov.hk/gts/graphics/astron-graphics/stru_comet_e.gif; accessed June 8, 2007.

The Earth slowed down, he argued, because the tail of a huge comet (Venus, before she entered into a stable orbit as the hot gas-shrouded planet we know today) touched the Earth’s atmosphere. One of the first signs of the encounter was a “rain of fine, rusty pigment” from the comet’s tail that turned the world red, explaining the words in Book of Exodus, “All the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.” (8) The Manuscript Quiche of the Mayas tells of the rivers turning to blood, and so does the Papyrus Ipuwer of the Egyptians. (7) Meteorites contained in the comet’s tail showered the Earth, causing it to stop turning.

Debunking the Law of Gravitation

The Law of Gravitation suggests that if the Earth were to stop spinning, it would destroy itself. Its surface would fly onward in the direction of its rotation, tearing the planet apart.  Ever the iconoclast and strong believer in the force of electromagnetism, Velikovsky debunked the Law of Gravitation as so much hooey in his 1946 paper titled “Cosmos Without Gravitation: Attraction, Repulsion and Electromagnetic Circumduction in the Solar System”. (9)

Recall that Johannes Kepler (A.D. 1571-1630) had pointed out the precise proportionality between the period a planet takes to go once around the sun and the distance of the planet from the sun. The period of a planet in the outer solar system is longer than an Earth year not only because is has a bigger orbit to traverse, but also because it is moving more slowly. (10) Edmond Halley (1656-1742) argued that “the planets move as they do because of a balance of two forces—one directed outward from the sun, and provided by a planet’s own velocity, and the other directed inward, but provided by a previously undiscovered gravitational force from the sun.” (10) The “gravitational force” had to decline with distance, so that far-off planets could move slowly and still balance the force of gravity, i.e., gravity was an inverse square law. Unable to prove the law by himself, Halley visited Isaac Newton (1642-1727) who commenced to write his monumental work on comets (1680) (Book III, Philsophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematic, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), assessed by scientist Carl Sagan as the “central testament of modern science, the keystone of our present understanding of stars, planets, comets, and much more.” (10)

Some three hundred (300) years later, Velikovsky rejected Newton’s Theory of Gravitation. He instead argued that Newton’s “gravitational force” is really an electromagnetic phenomenon, that there is no primary motion inherent in planets and satellites that somehow have been set into motion. Velikovsky thought it fatuous to believe that the planets and sun attract one another across empty space in a way that keeps them in motion infinitum in never-changing orbits. To wit, he spoke to four “empirical evidences of the fallacy of the law of gravitation”, listed below:

1. “Gravitation acts in no time. Laplace calculated that, in order to keep the solar system together, the gravitational pull must propagate with a velocity at least fifty million times greater than the velocity of light. A physical agent requires time to cover distances. Gravitation defies time.
2. Matter acts where it is not, or in abstentia, through no physical agent. This is a defiance of space. Newton was aware of this difficulty when he wrote in a letter to Bentley: ‘That gravity should be innate, inherent, and essential to matter, so that one body can act upon another at a distance through a vacuum without the mediation of anything else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an absurdity that I believe no man, who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking can ever fall into it.” Leibnitz opposed the theory of gravitation for this very reason.
3. Gravitational force is unchangeable by any and all agents or by any medium through which it passes, always propagating as the inverse square of the distances. ‘Gravitation is entirely independent of everything that influences other natural phenomenal’ (De Sitter). This is a defiance of the principles governing other agencies.
4. Every particle in the universe must be under a tendency to be pulled apart because of the infinite mass in the universe: it is pulled to all sides by all the matter in space.” (9, pp. 9-10)

NASA: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 May 1994 and planet Jupiter. Source:  http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/science/sl9.html; accessed June 8, 2007.

Velikovsky argued “[e]lectric attraction, repulsion, and electromagnetic circumduction govern [the planets’ and satellites’] movements…Sun, planets, satellites, comets are charged bodies. As charged bodies, they are interdependent…The sun carries a charge and rotates: it is an electromagnet. The spots of the sun are magnetic, and the filaments of hydrogen on the sun’s surface arrange themselves as iron particles in a magnetic field.” He continued, “Disturbances in filaments and vortices of the sun affect the ionosphere of the earth and prove the existence of a powerful charge on the sun; rotating at the speed of the solar rotation, a strong charge must produce a strong magnetic field.” (9)

Velikovsky concluded, “The electromagnetic fields of the earth and of other planets are the causes of the planetary perturbations…Perturbations among the members of the solar system are actions of attraction as well as of repulsion and depend on the charges of the planets and satellites and their magnetic properties. The fact that after perturbations, the planets resume their normal courses is due to the regulating action of the sun’s magnetic field. Similarly, the satellites are regulated in their motion by the electromagnetic fields of the primaries.” (9)

Venus Comet Hurdles Toward Earth

The body of the approaching Venus comet forced the Earth out of its regular motion and a major shock convulsed its entire surface, according to Velikovsky. “The shift in the atmosphere caused by the approach of the comet and the stasis of the planet itself produced hurricanes of enormous velocity and force.” (7) Velikovsky summarized the Mayan account quoted earlier as follows: “The face of the earth changed. [M]ountains collapsed, other mountains grew and rose over the onrushing cataract of water driven from the oceanic spaces [tsunamis], numberless rivers lost their beds, and a wild tornado moved through the debris descending from the sky.”

“The human population was decimated and many species of animals perished entirely. The surface of the earth burst…The Zend-Avesta of the Persians says that a star made the sea boil. The Polynesians say that a star caused new islands to appear.” (7)

When a comet encounters a planet, Velikovsky continued, it may become entangled and drawn from its path, then forced into a new orbit, and finally liberated. The Earth and the Venus comet did not collide; rather they exchanged discharges of electric potential. “To the peoples of the earth below who witnessed this spectacle, the head of the comet and its tail seemed to be two separate bodies. The bright globe fought the “crooked serpent” and destroyed it, thus saving the world from further harm.” (7, p. 22) Velikovsky pointed out the difficulty of finding “a people or tribe on earth that does not have the same motif at the very focus of its religious beliefs.” The great spark that flew between the comet and earth is remembered as the bolt of lightning, placed in the hand of a god who threw this thunderbolt at a world overwhelmed by water and fire.” He cited Zeus of the Greeks, Odin of the Icelanders, Ukko of the Finns, Wotan of the Germans, Mazda of the Persians, Marduk of the Babylonians, Siva of the Hindus.” (7, p. 23)

For decades, the earth suffered the gasses of the comet and the dust of exploding volcanoes. No plants grew. So what did survivors eat? The carbon and hydrogen of the comet’s tail combined chemically to produce carbohydrates, the ambrosia of the Greeks and the manna of the Hebrews that fell from the clouds. “Where the honeyfrost fell on the waters, it turned them milky and sweet. Ovid, the Vedas, and the Egyptians say that the rivers flowed with milk and honey.” (7, p. 23)

How the Earth Started Rotating Again

Velikovsky explains: “A charged body which rotates creates a magnetic field. The sun is a charged body, and it rotates, and charged particles arrive from it in a continuous stream. The earth is a charged body, and it rotates, and it possesses a magnetic field. If the magnetic field of the sun were to govern the earth’s motion, then after an encounter with a comet the earth could resume its rotation, though on a changed orbit…The earth’s ‘inertia’ is electrical in character. How do we know that the earth and the planets are so different from the electrons inside the atom?” (7, p. 24)

Evidence that the Comet was Venus

The planet Venus is the brightest and most conspicuous of all the planets. Ancient astronomers followed its motion with great care because its course as comet was so erratic. It is remarkable then that no record exists of Venus prior to the second millennium B.C. Early Babylonian astronomy counted four planets and four only—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury. In the Hindu table of the planets attributed to 3102 B.C., Venus alone is missing. Later the Babylonians called Venus the “great star that joins the other great stars.” All traditions, according to Velikovsky, describe “the Morning Star [Venus] as having a specific birth, an event of great significance to the Tahitians, the Eskimos, and the Buriats, the Kirghiz, and the Yakuts of Siberia, as well as to more sophisticated peoples.” (7, p. 24)

Calendars of ancient peoples seem “hopelessly inaccurate” to us today, even though ancient astronomers made careful measurements. The reason is that the Earth actually changed its orbit, argues Velikovsky, throwing off the days and seasons. The ancient astronomers needed to create new calendars to reflect the new realities. The Earth’s history has not been one of peaceful evolution. Rather, the evidence supports a pattern of catastrophe implicit in the world traditions.  

Conclusion

Velikovsky was ahead of his time. One observer wrote in the 1950s, “[i]f Velikovsky’s thesis should withstand the test of time and become generally accepted, revolutionary consequences ensue; and prevailing views in a dozen fields—including evolution, mythology, gravitation, and particularly classical and Biblical history—will have to be radically revised.” (7, p. 26).

Velikovsky’s Books:

• Worlds in Collision (1950)
• Ages in Chaos (1952)
• Earth in Upheaval (1955)
• Oedipus and Akhnaton (1960)
• Peoples of the Sea (1977)
• Ramses II and his Time (1978)
• Mankind in Amnesia (1982)

Notes

1. “Foreword”, “The Immanuel Velikovsky Archive” at: http://www.varchive.org/dy/bioforw.htm; accessed June 7, 2007.
2. “Velikovsky and His Critics” in Harpers Magazine (June 1951), p. 52.
3. Immanuel Velikovsky: “Worlds in Collision in the Light of Recent Finds in Archaeology, Geology, and Astronomy: An Address before the Graduate College Forum of Princeton University on October 14, 1953 (revised version). In Immanuel Velikovsky: Earth in Upheaval, 1965, pp. 272-273.
4. “The Immanuel Velikovsky Archive at: http://www.varchive.org/; accessed June 7, 2007.
5. Princeton University Library Immanuel Velikovsky papers. See: http://catalog.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v2=1&ti=1,1&SEQ=20060202183918&Search%5FArg=immanuel%20velikovsky&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=50&PID=23554&SID=1, accessed June 7, 2007.
6. Joshua 10:12: “And he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.”
7. Eric Larrabee: “The Day the Sun Stood Still” in Harper’s Magazine, January 1950, pp. 19-26.
8. Exodus VII: 7:17. “Thus said Jehovah, In this thou shalt know that I am Jehovah: Behold me smiting with the rod which is in my hand upon the waters that in the river, and they were turned into blood.”
9. Immanuel Velikovsky: “Cosmos Without Gravitation: Attraction, Repulsion and Electromagnetic Circumduction in the Solar System” (1947). Available online at: http://www.varchive.org/ce/cosmos.htm; accessed June 7, 2007.
10. Carl Sagan and Ann Sagan: Comet. Ballantine Books, 1997, pp. 52-53.