Worlds in Collision

E739392

Worlds in Collision is a controversial 1950 book by Immanuel Velikovsky that proposes catastrophic astronomical events as explanations for ancient myths and historical phenomena.

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Label Occurrences
Worlds in Collision canonical 1

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Predicate Object
instanceOf book
argues that ancient myths and religious texts record real astronomical catastrophes
that planetary orbits changed within human historical memory
author Immanuel Velikovsky NERFINISHED
centralClaim close encounters between Earth and other planets caused global catastrophes in human history
claims that many global traditions of darkness, fire, and floods have a common astronomical cause
that the Exodus events were associated with planetary catastrophes
considered pseudoscientific by the scientific community
controversial true
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticizedBy astronomers
historians
physicists
criticizedFor conflict with established celestial mechanics
misuse of historical and mythological sources
followedBy Ages in Chaos NERFINISHED
Earth in Upheaval NERFINISHED
genre catastrophism literature
pseudoscience literature
hasDeweyDecimalClassification 523.1
hasLCClassification QB51 .V4 NERFINISHED
hasOCLCNumber 408728
impactOnPublisher Macmillan transferred the book to Doubleday after academic pressure NERFINISHED
influenced alternative history movements
popular interest in catastrophism
language English
mediaType print
notableFor being a bestseller despite scientific rejection
causing a major controversy between Macmillan and the scientific community
proposes that Venus had near-collisions with Earth and Mars in historical times
that Venus was originally a comet ejected from Jupiter
publicationDate 1950
publisher Macmillan Publishers NERFINISHED
structure divided into sections correlating myths with proposed astronomical events
subject ancient history
astronomy
catastrophism
mythology
timePeriodDiscussed ancient history
biblical times
title Worlds in Collision NERFINISHED
uses ancient Near Eastern texts as evidence
comparative mythology as evidence
interpretations of biblical accounts as evidence

Referenced by (1)

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Immanuel Velikovsky notableWork Worlds in Collision