Dusty Old Books are Triond Diamonds: Part Two – Earth in Upheaval

Introduction

My first reaction to finding, “Earth in Upheaval,” was, “Wow!” Here was a writer that gives so much it makes your heart race. His dense prose examining an Earth of heaving paroxysms, catastrophic climate change, racing comets and hidden beaches leaves you breathless. Over half a century ago, I. Velikovsky, from Princeton, New Jersey wrote about this lovely planet being shaken and stirred right up to historical times. As the pages fall away, the soothing eons of theoretical, gradual evolution lie broken. The point of the tome was to not only show the world is violent but that slow Earth changes are bunk. It was I. Velikovsky who first told of that comet that wiped out whole species long ago.

The Doctrine of Uniformity

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The Doctrine of Uniformity tells of Earth being slowly changed across eons. “Earth in Upheaval,” tells another story. Presented as the antithesis of to, “slow changes,” the books reveals:

·      Times of volcanism

·      Tidal waves borne of comets

·      Ice ages sprung in seconds upon unsuspecting animals.

I. Velikovsky was named mad for his ideas. Yet, in this amazing book, he presents proof that the Earth has been subject, time and again, to catastrophes that obliterated life. It is this book and, his first, “Worlds in Collision,” that sowed the seeds of the accepted idea that comets hit this planet many times before.

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One of the Longest Sentences in English

“Earth in Upheaval,” was slammed when published. Was it the extravagance of Velikovsky’s prose? Not only does the book tell an amazing story it tells it in an amazing way. Here, too, lies one of Englishes’ longest single-sentences. It reads, on pages 97 and 98:

“Evidence of great upheavals has been brought forth from the islands of the Arctic Ocean and the tundras of Siberia; from the soil of Alaska; from Spitsbergen and Greenland; from the caves of England, the forest-bed of Norfolk, and the rock fissures of Wales and Cornwall; from the rocks of France, the Alps and Juras, and from Gibraltar and Sicily; from the Sahara and the Rift of Africa; from Arabia and it harass, the Kashmir slopes of the Himalayas, and the Siwalik Hills; from the Irrawaddy in Burma and from the Tientsin and Choukoutien deposits in China; from the Andes and the Altiplano; from the asphalt pits of California; from the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia Plateau; from the Cumberland cave in Maryland and Agate Spring Quarry in Nebraska; from the hills of Michigan and Vermont with skeletons of whales on them; from the Carolina coast; from the submerged coasts and the bottom of the Atlantic with its Ridge, and the lava bottom of the Pacific.” 

Such was Velikovsky’s style, extravagant and convincing; that he caused eruption in Geosciences that left a mark. We accept catastrophes in the past, as fact, thanks to him.

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Conclusion

My copy of, “Earth in Upheaval,” is from 1981. I found two copies of this, “dusty diamond,” and purchased both. Once, I mentioned that I was reading him, to another author, who scoffed. Yet, Velikovsky worked with Albert Einstein, with many of the leading lights of academe of his day. “Earth in Upheaval,” is one exciting read – a glittering diamond from the past.

Source

Velikovsky, I. (1981) Earth in Upheaval Glasgow Abacus / Sphere Books

ISBN 0 3491 3583 5 COSMOLOGY / HISTORY

Dusty Old Books Are Triond Diamonds

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