otropogo
I very much enjoyed reading Nemesis: the Death Star, so much so, that it became one of the very few books I've read twice and purchased two copies of (one to loan out).
In both of the above respects, it is similar to Immanuel Velikovsky's works, Worlds in Collision, etc.. But the much more important similarity is that participants in both projects met with some derision by the academic scientific community for theorizing beyond their technical specialties.
Ironically, Velikovsky made more impact because of the very viciousness of the attacks on his work.
What disappoints me most about "Nemesis" is that lack of reflection on the state of scientific ossification that has set in since the beginning of the 20th century.
Perhaps the greatest intellectual contribution of Velikovsky is precisely that he made us aware of the terrible herd mentality that has seized the academic world, and of the ferocity with which its members strive to enforce orthodoxy.
One does not have to subscribe to his cometary scenarios to admire and appreciate his psychological analysis of the anti-catastrophic mentality, and its frightful power to blind intellectual giants, from Isaac Newton to Agassiz to the realities right under their noses.
I would like to explore this further, and perhaps even delve into the possibility that the concept of a dwarf sister star to the Sun might make Velikovsky's cometary theory more plausible.
Unfortunately, thanks to a rather defective primary and secondary education (and that fact that post secondary institutions can't teach anything at all), I'm not equipped to contribute technically to such discussions or to follow the nuts and bolts.
If there's scope for such discussion here, please give a sign. If not, redirection to a more promising forum would be welcome.
In both of the above respects, it is similar to Immanuel Velikovsky's works, Worlds in Collision, etc.. But the much more important similarity is that participants in both projects met with some derision by the academic scientific community for theorizing beyond their technical specialties.
Ironically, Velikovsky made more impact because of the very viciousness of the attacks on his work.
What disappoints me most about "Nemesis" is that lack of reflection on the state of scientific ossification that has set in since the beginning of the 20th century.
Perhaps the greatest intellectual contribution of Velikovsky is precisely that he made us aware of the terrible herd mentality that has seized the academic world, and of the ferocity with which its members strive to enforce orthodoxy.
One does not have to subscribe to his cometary scenarios to admire and appreciate his psychological analysis of the anti-catastrophic mentality, and its frightful power to blind intellectual giants, from Isaac Newton to Agassiz to the realities right under their noses.
I would like to explore this further, and perhaps even delve into the possibility that the concept of a dwarf sister star to the Sun might make Velikovsky's cometary theory more plausible.
Unfortunately, thanks to a rather defective primary and secondary education (and that fact that post secondary institutions can't teach anything at all), I'm not equipped to contribute technically to such discussions or to follow the nuts and bolts.
If there's scope for such discussion here, please give a sign. If not, redirection to a more promising forum would be welcome.
