The Trial of Immanuel Velikovsky

The Trial of Immanuel Velikovsky
In 1950 a book was brought to publication, the repercussions of which are still reverberating in scientific circles to this day.

Immanuel Velikovsky was a Russian Jew, born in 1895 and educated and graduated in medicine, in Moscow in 1921. He then went on to practise psychoanalysis in Tel Aviv, Israel, in the 1930s. While there, he pursued his interest in Egyptology. That pursuit led to the publication of a somewhat controversial book, 'Akhenaton and Oedipus', written co-jointly with Madam Velikovsky. But it was not until his later publication of 'Worlds in Collision' and then 'Earth in Upheaval', that the good Doctor's reputation was made - as an upstart lunatic, piddling in branches of science for which he held no recognized 'papers'; had no qualification as an unqualified 'expert'.

In fact, it was while he was researching ancient writings that he began to come across intriguing references to cataclysmic world upheavals. Not all of these references were rooted in mythic source as his detractors would insist they were; some were passing references in ancient, respected texts to geologic reversals, previously unsighted stellar bodies and other unexplained phenomena. All of which had puzzled the ancient observers who had set down their observations and which, when Dr. Velikovsky came across those references in many diverse sources (yet oddly corroborating each other) intrigued him no end. The sources were as diverse as Babylonian mythic sources, Egyptian sacred writings, Chinese historical texts and Hindu records. One Hebraic rabbinical text read: "The brilliant light of Venus blazes from one end of the cosmos to the other".

And that, in a nutshell, is what Velikovsky's controversial and scientifically-unpalatable theory is all about. After much study of such texts, and countless other sources, in addition to his own observational abilities applied to astrophysics, geology and astronomy - in addition to informed intuition, Velikovsky evolved the startling theory that an instant-in-time ago astronomically speaking (around 10,000 years ago) the Jovian planet Jupiter expelled a fiery object from itself which object then went on to enter a long elliptical orbit around the sun, dragging its considerable tail behind it. As Velikovsky would have it, Venus reached away from one perihelion to finally threaten our own planet earth, in its inexorable and frightening approach. That as the comet's tail entered the Earth's orbiting ambit a ferruginous dust filtered over the earth, colouring it red and rendering its waters unpotable so that life on earth was thereby threatened with extinction. Following this, a torrential rain of meteorites, presumably expelled from the comet's passage, pelted the earth, flattening all in their wake. And as our globe passed deeper into the comet's tail petroleum derivatives rained down, floated on the seas, impregnated the land - and earth became one great smouldering holocaust. Finally, caught in the comet's gravitational grasp, the earth shuddered as its axis tilted and structures both natural and man-made were laid waste. The oceans rushed over mountains and gushed into continental basins as rivers reversed their flow and islands disappeared into the sea - then overall a great hurricane rent forests and left incredible devastation in its wake.

As anyone would readily admit, that is a catastrophe of cataclysmic proportions. Nothing so inimical to life on earth, to the very survival of the planet itself had been suspected before Velikovsky's theory became public. the total effect could perhaps be compared to the Big Bang when all celestial bodies were not yet evolved; were only radioactive dust clouds; when an ineffable nuclear reaction took place which eventually cooled enough to render gases into their mineral state and the stars and planets gradually evolved.

But the solar system took billions upon billions of years to evolve, and Velikovsky was postulating the theory that the dreadful upheaval that he envisioned as having occurred to this globe took place within the period of written history - at a time when man was literate and had founded great empires. The question is, could anything of that monumental and catastrophic nature possibly have taken place a mere five thousand years ago? Such phenomena are generally conceded to evolve over incredibly long time-spans. Could the Earth and its environs have recovered so rapidly from its postulated near-destruction in 1,500 B.C.E.?

That question seems to demand quite a credibility gap - to be answered either way. It requires the suspension of an unswerving belief in things As They Are Currently Explained. In short, a re-structuring of scientific belief in the evolution of the Solar System.

Some of Velikovsky's persecutors (for they were no less than that) have made the observation that if he were to be believed, Newtonian theory would go by the boards. Well, the great Albert Einstein did present a theory which was soon after validated, which gave pause to Newton's theory and we have all somehow managed to survive that shock.

Velikovsky's detractors, and they are legion, maintain that with the high degree of scientific specialization currently necessary in all fields to properly investigate various aspects of science, it is impossible for any one man to know even one science thoroughly in all its aspects, let alone the many disciplines that Velikovsky drew upon to present his formidable theory. As a generalization, it may be true that it appears impossible for one man to become expert in many fields which require minutely detailed data ingestion, yet there are exceptions to many rules and Velikovsky has earned the respect of experts in a variety of fields, who have themselves dared to run the gauntlet of their own professions' disapproval, and support his right to a fair hearing.

There have been respected scientists who, though not entirely accepting Velikovsky's theories, yet found reason to respect the man's scientific integrity, all-around knowledge and theoretical grasp who regarded his theories with an open mind and felt them worthy of airing, discussion and empirical study, where applicable. Perhaps the most respected of these eminent scientists who gave Velikovsky support was none other than Albert Einstein, who, shortly before his death, read Velikovsky's manuscript, commented on it briefly and kindly and bade him to "...savour the whole episode (the unrelenting hounding and vilification by the scientific community) for its humorous side". (Letter, March 17,1955)

The scientific mind which was most outraged, which did its utmost, both clandestinely and aboveboard, to damage Velikovsky's reputation was Harlow Shapley, the eminent astronomer, whose tactics ranged from outright coersion (letters to Velikovsky's publishers in an attempt to have them withdraw as publishers) to spreading word abroad that Velikovsky was a lunatic, shunned by the respectable scientific community. Shapley, a past director of the Harvard Observatory, was, in fact, initially approached by Velikovsky who asked if he would read the manuscript, comment on it, and perhaps order a few spectroscopic (analytical) tests which might prove or disprove some of his points. Shapley told Velikovsky that either the whole scientific community was mad and only Velikovsky sane, or that he (Velikovsky) was mad and the scientific community sane. His theories, Shapley said to Velikovsky, were completely unacceptable.

This, without ever bothering to read the controversial text, although he had promised at one point that if Velikovsky had the manuscript 'vetted' by someone of whom Shapley approved, Shapley would condescend to read it. The condition was fulfilled, but nonetheless Shapley disdained to read the manuscript. And during Shapley's decades-long persecution (ending only with his death) of Velikovsky, the text in question remained unread. In fact, it can be said of all Velikovsky's most fervid detractors that none of them took the trouble to read the book. What they excelled in doing was to take statements from the book out of context, then twist them to suit their purposes, which was that of denigration.

It becomes almost immaterial as to whether Velikovsky's theories can be correct. That something akin to a witch-hunt went on and still continues is the moot point. Science does not care to have its cherished apple-carts upturned with impunity. At one time in history the stake was employed as a useful expedience for ridding the scientific community of embarrassment; such as was done with Giordano Bruno when he insisted that our globe was only one of many in the universe; that the sun and other heavenly bodies did not revolve around the Earth and that the chances of intelligent life on planets other than ours is a distinct possibility. In the centuries which have passed since Bruno's impious declaration, only the methods have appeared to have altered, but the persecution goes on.

There have been other scientists in our era who have transgressed the boundaries of discipline other than their own and have suffered no repercussions such as befell Velikovsky. Take, for example, Carl Sagan, a noted astronomer himself enamoured of the idea of extraterrestrial life, penning a somewhat controversial book on the evolution of the human brain ('The Dragons of Eden'), though self-admittedly he is no expert on evolution, anthropology or biology. The intelligent reader assesses the information available and draws his own conclusions. Censure from the scientific community, a jealous mafia, is entirely inconsistent with free thought, freedom of speech, and an open-mindedness in education.

Indeed, Velikovsky's fresh, frank and open-minded approach, unfettered by scientific orthodoxy, aided by his formidable intellect, can be held responsible for some of his theories which although derided by the scientific community, have later proven to be quite correct. As, for example, his contention that the surface of Venus was considerably hotter than science had expected it to be - and which the Venus probe later corroborated. And his urging of the IGY (International Geophysical Year/1957) to investigate a possible magnetic field in the magnetosphere. This, before the Van Allen magnetic belts were finally verified. Velikovsky predicted that petroleum derivatives would be discovered outside Jupiter and they later were. He predicted radio signals from planets and stars, and this before any were received by dish telescopes. Astronomy recognized inertia and gravity as forces in the universe, while Velikovsky predicted that electrical charges, space plasma and solar winds would have to be reckoned with in the near future.

Each and every one of these predictions and theories have been validated. None yet, of this theories, have been scientifically disproved, yet no accolades accrue to him as scientist/prophet, no indication from the scientific community as yet, that here is a great theoretical mind which was capable of predicting as-yet-undiscovered natural phenomena.

If recognition is withheld because some of his other theories appear to be embarrassing to science, then one has only to recall that Isaac Newton, with all his gravitational genius, was also an enthusiastic mystic, dabbling in the occult. A little-advertised side of that great man's interest, yet his was hailed as one of the greatest minds of his century.

Some of Velikovsky's colleagues at Princeton University, in particular, H.H. Hess, a world-renowned geophysicist, attempted to open the minds of his scientific colleagues to Velikovsky's work, but all his efforts were in vain. Similarly, Horace M. Kallen, philosopher and educator, went out of his way to intervene with Shapley on Velikovsky's behalf, then finally, was so disgusted by the vengefulness of Shapley-et-al's vendetta against Velikovsky that he wrote a public renunciation of his erstwhile friend, Shapley.

Velikovsky's treatment at the hands of the scientific community is a travesty of what is often claimed to be scientific open-mindedness and intellectual elasticity. The various scientific disciplines are as closed-minded, but for a few renegades, as they have always been; jealous of their reputations, their fondly-held beliefs in the immutability of personal theories, accepted theories. These are theories which are described as uniformitarian - which, translated, means that only processes that we can observe operating today could have existed in earlier periods of history. Thus effectively ruling out any type of sudden global catastrophe such as the type envisioned by Velikovsky in his maligned 'Worlds in Collision'.

Again, it hardly matters whether or not the intelligent and informed reader wishes to accept the totality of Velikovsky's theories. But an open-minded skeptic has a far healthier mind than a vicious closed-minded cynic with his own ax to grind. Velikovsky continues to be a thorn in the intellectual-scientific world which refuses to give credence to unorthodox, unapproved approaches to the unfolding of the universe. Despite that most of Velikovsky's initial defenders and detractors are now dead, Velikovsky is still denied the right to legitimately voice his heretical theories, without a rain of vociferous scientific criticism. It disturbs many that life does not unfold as it is expected to.