books about asteroids, comets and cosmic impacts – page two –
for a wide selection of books that challenge orthodox views of prehistory on our planet
and it’s catastrophic interactions with our ancient solar system environment
Below are a selection of books that will give you a background in understanding the growing appreciation that many ancient cultures have, periodically, been destroyed by impacts of asteroids, cometary debris and meteorite storms. Besides the ‘cosmic impact’ event of 65 million years ago which is now accepted as having caused the final demise of the dinosaurs, the focus of attention is increasingly on ‘narrowest-tree-ring’ events that have been discovered in the 7,500-year dendrochronology records. Narrow tree-rings indicate poor annual growth, and indicate abrupt climatic downturns at various epochs in the past several millennia of the history of our planet.
It is also becoming increasingly accepted that our upper atmosphere periodically becomes dust-loaded with minute particles of cometary debris when the orbit of the Earth passes through meteoroid streams along each comet’s orbital path. This can lower the Earth’s temperature, cutting out sunlight and undermining agricultural civilisations. One of these ‘narrowest-ring’ events occurred around the 2350 BC period, when many Bronze Age societies around the world collapsed simultaneously, and recent research (August 2001) indicates that this date corresponds to the date of the‘fall’ of Jerico.
Another date that is causing a lot of interest is the period around AD 536 – 545, at the start of the times we refer to as the European Dark Age. Are the legends of the Arthurian ‘wastelands’, and of the ‘yellow pestilence’ that devasted King Arthur’s homeland in South-East Wales at this same time in history, connected to the environmental downturn which is evident in the tree-ring records from places as far apart as Scandinavia, North America and Ireland? If so, when can we expect to endure similar episodes of dust-loading and bombardments of cometary debris in the future?
You can keep up with current developments via links on our Spaceguard
page, and access many calendars which give details of meteorite storms on a monthly basis to help plan your skywatching sessions ahead of events. To us, the ‘shooting-stars’ we see during meteor storms seem like benign light-shows. But ancient peoples seem to have known otherwise …
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all comments are editorial and customer reviews posted on the Amazon.com
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more books about the ‘dynamic history of our solar system’ on page:
“The book, Doomsday Asteroid: Can We Survive? is different than any of the other recent books on this subject. It was written by a retired aerospace engineer and a space educator, rather than by scientists or science writers. This gives the book a perspective different from the others recently released. Unlike other books, this one is critical of the astronomical community and their approach to the asteroid danger for two main reasons. First, the scientists have expressed mainly concern about very large asteroids; the kind that may kill a BILLION people or so, and threaten our very civilization. These occur very infrequently, every hundred millennia or so. It is hard to become concerned about such a remote danger. But there are a thousand times more asteroids that can cause the destruction of a major metropolitan area if they should hit. ”
“Meteor succeeded meteor in such rapid succession that it was impossible to count them; at times the sky seemed full of them, and the earth was illuminated as with a morning light. Eye-witness accounts such as this, and every spectacular detail of the Leonids, the greatest meteor showers of all, can be found in the acclaimed The Heavens on Fire. In this volume, author Mark Littmann vividly tells the history of meteors, and especially the Leonids, whose terrifying beauty established meteor science. He traces the history and mythology of meteors, profiles the fascinating figures whose discoveries advanced the field, and explores how meteors have changed the course of life on Earth. Crisp illustrations capture the excitement of past meteor showers and help elucidate important concepts.”
“Carl Sagan and Immanuel Velikovsky” by Charles Ginenthal
“Charles Ginenthal has done the cause of truth a great service by exposing the duplicity and downright dishonesty of one of the Establishment’s most lionised “media scientists”. In fact, as Ginenthal shows, Carl Sagan’s scientific method, when it came to the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky, had more in common with that of Senator McCarthy or the KGB. His role in the disgraceful suppression and misrepresentation of Velikovsky’s work will surely go down as one of the darkest episodes in the history of western thought. All is meticulously recorded by Ginenthal, and this book will probably be required reading in universities in a few years, on courses realing with science history and science politics.”
“Asteroid: Earth Destroyer or New Frontier?” byPatricia Barnes-Svarney
“It would take an asteroid the size of Vermont crashing into the Earth to wipe out all life on our planet. We can probably go to sleep tonight without worrying about this happening. Yet a significantly smaller asteroid — say, one that spans 10 football fields — could wreak enormous damage on life as we know it. Even if it struck in the middle of an ocean, violent flooding could drown millions of people. Asteroids this size pass between the Earth and the moon with disturbing frequency, writes Patricia Barnes-Svarney. This book nicely combines history, science and engaging speculation.”
“Collision Course!: Cosmic Impacts and Life on Earth”
“Gr 4-8-Bortz takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the origins of the universe, the impact of comets and asteroids on the history of the Earth and the Moon, what we have learned from current research about these space rocks, and what we might expect in the future. The full-color and black-and-white illustrations and photographs are sharp, clear, and dramatic. The layout creates interest while the crisp text makes for easy reading. The author brings to light a great deal of information about comets and asteroids and the people who study them and does so in an easy-to-understand and interesting style.”
“Fire on Earth: Doomsday, Dinosaurs, and Humankind”
“A crater discovered in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in 1978, and intensively investigated in 1990, may provide the “smoking gun” confirming that the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by a meteorite that smashed into Earth 65 million years ago, wiping out 70% of all plant and animal species. The Gribbins, popular science writers, consider the evidence for this theory overwhelming. Collisions with comets, scientists now believe, have resulted in mass extinctions on Earth every 26 to 30 million years. Lesser cosmic impacts, the Gribbins hypothesize, shaped the evolution of human civilization by triggering ice ages.”
“Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Dinosaur Extinction and the Transformation of Modern Geology “ by James Lawrence Powell
“I started this book mainly to find out for myself the solution to the greatest scientific mystery: what killed the dinosaurs? I knew, as did everyone with an interest in dinosaurs, that some scientists had concluded that the culprit was an impacting asteroid. But I also knew that this theory violated geologic orthodoxy and that many geologists opposed it. Who was right, the defenders of orthodoxy or the pro-impactors? The answer mattered, for if an asteroid killed the dinosaurs, then the science of geology, and our view just how safe a place is our solar system, would never be the same.”
“Catastrophism: Asteroids, Comets and Other Dynamic Events in Earth History” by Richard Huggett
“Surveying a variety of different theories of uniformitarian and neo-catastrophist thought, and seeking a path towards a new and workable synthesis, this book provides a useful introduction to the ideas which have defined the way people look at the world. One of the most dramatic intellectual events of the last decade has been the re-emergence of the catastrophist paradigm in the biological and Earth sciences. From killer asteroids to emergent viruses, it has become evident that the history of life on Earth has been shaped – far more than previous orthodoxies would allow – by extreme events and non-linear processes.”
“Observing Comets, Asteroids, Meteors and the Zodiacal Light (Practical Astronomy Handbooks)“ by Stephen J. Edberg & David H. Levy
“If you are an amateur astronomer, and comets, asteroids, meteors, and the zodiacal light are your quarry, then this is the book for you. Comet observers can learn how to make visual estimates of brightness and size, and how to make photographic studies of cometary heads and tails. Asteroid hunters will find a “life list” of objects and guidelines on how to search for them and then how to photograph or electronically image them. Practical photographic and electronic methods for studying meteors and meteor showers are provided. Visual and photographic techniques show you how to examine the often elusive zodiacal light. The more adventurous are provided with advanced techniques on how to make successful astrometric, spectroscopic and electronic observations.”
“‘Comet’ begins with a breathtaking journey through space astride a comet. Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer Carl Sagan, author of Cosmos and Contact, and writer Ann Druyan explore the origin, nature, and future of comets, and the exotic myths and portents attached to them. The authors show how comets have spurred some of the great discoveries in the history of science and raise intriguing questions about these brilliant visitors from the interstellar dark. Were the fates of the dinosaurs and the origins of humans tied to the wanderings of a comet? Are comets the building blocks from which worlds are formed? ‘Comet’ is an enthralling adventure, indispensable for anyone who has ever gazed up at the heavens and wondered why.”
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