Penguin India to destroy all copies of "The Hindus" due to religious pressure

[The Old Man]

Yes, Velikovsky was demonized, and I can see he still is. BTW he said it was Venus that popped out of Jupiter not the reverse. His books are now available on Kindle and interestingly the 1950 version is unaltered. Some speculations he made have been proven true such as the high surface temperature of Venus along with its retrograde motion. It wasn’t only the pressure put on Macmillan it was the shabby way he was treated. True of false, he deserved a fair hearing by the scientific community, and that he never received.

[QuantumIguana]

Velikovsky is not being demonized. He's just utterly and ridiculously wrong. His views were not based on evidence. That Venus was hot was known before Velikovsky.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Velikovsky is not being demonized. He's just utterly and ridiculously wrong. His views were not based on evidence. That Venus was hot was known before Velikovsky.

I remember reading Velikovsky and Eric von Daniken when I was about 14 and thought their stories were cool. Then I grew up, did a bit of research and decided they were crazy or liars. Still haven't made up my mind...

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Velikovsky is not being demonized. He's just utterly and ridiculously wrong. His views were not based on evidence. That Venus was hot was known before Velikovsky.

On Venus, I beg to differ:
http://www.velikovsky.info/On_the_Re...iter_and_Venus

As to scientific evidence you are correct. Worlds in Collision used evidence from ancient historical documents.

He was far from being a "nut" or crank. He held a doctor's degree in psychology and was a friend and correspondent with Einstein.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

I remember reading Velikovsky and Eric von Daniken when I was about 14 and thought their stories were cool. Then I grew up, did a bit of research and decided they were crazy or liars. Still haven't made up my mind...

The only similarity between Von Daniken and Velikovsky is that they both proposed controversial theories. There is no similarity between the theories of these two gentlemen.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

The only similarity between Von Daniken and Velikovsky is that they both proposed controversial theories. There is no similarity between the theories of these two gentlemen.

No. The similarity is that they're both crazy and/or both liars. Do some research. Nothing either writes about is anything but wild speculation with flimsy facts. When I was 14 I believed their crap. Then I grew up.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

On Venus, I beg to differ:
http://www.velikovsky.info/On_the_Re...iter_and_Venus

As to scientific evidence you are correct. Worlds in Collision used evidence from ancient historical documents.

He was far from being a "nut" or crank. He held a doctor's degree in psychology and was a friend and correspondent with Einstein.

Velikovsky isn't being demonized. He's being (deservedly) ridiculed. There's a difference. His views weren't just wrong, they were ridiculous. Velikovsky was unequivocally a crank. He may have used historical sources, but those are not scientific sources: even if those sources are true, they in no way shape of form provide evidence for his pseudoscientific theory. His conclusions are based on what he wanted to be true, non on where evidence led him. Venus was not flung from Jupiter, it could not have gone on the crazy course that he said it did, and even if it did, it could not have caused the effects that he says it did.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Velikovsky isn't being demonized. He's being (deservedly) ridiculed. etc...

Fine, I am not trying to defend him.The thread was on censorship and on that score I brought up the subject. His book is still available to anyone wishing to read it.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

Fine, I am not trying to defend him.The thread was on censorship and on that score I brought up the subject. His book is still available to anyone wishing to read it.

People should read it, as an example of foolishness. It should be taught in school, to show children what foolishness looks like.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

The thread was on censorship and on that score I brought up the subject. His book is still available to anyone wishing to read it.

Yes. At least in the United States and United Kingdom, Velikovsky's most famous book, among others, is still available to anyone wishing to read it, both in print and as an eBook:

http://www.paradigma-publishing.com/books1.html

Checking Amazon India, they are selling used copies of Velikovsky's print book, as well as Worlds in Collision eBooks. But The Hindus is truly censored:

http://www.amazon.in/Hindus-Wendy-Do...=Wendy+Doniger

As I wrote before, it's somewhat weak censorship, because Indians can order the book from abroad for shipping in. But it's definite censorship. What Velikovsky faced was not censorship, but ridicule.

[JimMcLaren]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

Yes, Velikovsky was demonized, and I can see he still is.

I'd hardly say he's being demonized. Ridiculed maybe (deservedly).

Originally Posted by The Old Man

True of false, he deserved a fair hearing by the scientific community, and that he never received.

He got the fair hearing. That's why they wanted it pulled from the shelves. It's obviously spreading untrue information. I read Worlds in Collision in college and immediately realized that it violated all laws of astrodynamics. It was bad science trying to explain unexplainable phenomenon.