RE-EXAMINING VELIKOVSKY
Raymond H. Gallucci
Keywords: Velikovsky, Catastrophism, Venus, Solar System, Electric Universe
The ?Electric Universe? Theory (EUT) owes part of its inspiration to the work of Immanuel Velikovsky (Worlds in Collision [1950]), at least for introducing the concept of catastrophism of an electrical nature potentially inducing what EUT proponents see as plasma-arced ?scarring? on some planets and other objects within our solar system, such as Mars. Though discredited by mainstream physicists and astronomers since the publication of his ideas in 1950, Velikovsky nonetheless ushered in an era where catastrophic events, rather than just immeasurable eons of uniformitarianism, became acknowledged as a potential contributor to the current state of our solar system (and maybe beyond). Based on my admittedly quite crude calculations in this paper, it still appears too far-fetched to believe the planet Venus arose out of Jupiter and careened through the inner solar system anytime within human history (if ever at all). However, this does not invalidate the EUT contention that planetary scarring due to electrical plasma-arcing may be responsible for the bizarre surface features seen on Mars and perhaps other celestial objects. But just what particular planetoids or comets might have been responsible for this remains unknown.
