Download or read book Ancient Astronauts Cosmic Collisions written by William H. Stiebing and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2010-06-03 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Controversial archaeological and astronomical "discoveries" have been the subject of countless news stories, best-selling books, movies, and television programs. Promoted (but seldom critically evaluated) are the theories that markings in the desert of Peru are the remains of an ancient airfield used by space visitors, that the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt exhibits advanced technology unknown to the ancient Egyptians, and that there were near-collisions between planets of our solar system in historical times.This book critically evaluates many of these popular hypotheses about man''s early history. It presents the most important evidence and arguments for and against theories of a universal flood, the lost continent of Atlantis, mysterious pyramid powers, pre-Columbian voyages to America by ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians, and Velikovsky''s cosmic catastrophism.Professor Stiebing stresses the need for careful and objective analysis of the "evidence" used to support radical reconstructions of the past. The book discusses radio-carbon dating, archaeological stratigraphy, textual interpretation, and epigraphy as well as emphasis on the proper use of data provided by geology, astronomy and other sciences. It is written in non-technical language and will appeal to a wide audience.
Download or read book Cosmic Collisions written by Dana Desonie and published by Holt Paperbacks. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cosmic collisions have forever shaped the planets in our solar system, sculpting Earth and our Moon. They are still happening right in our neighborhood, as we saw in July 1994 when comet fragments bombarded the surface of Jupiter. What if a collision of that magnitude were to occur on Earth? Would the effect be anywhere near that of the collision that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? Scientists have just begun to track distant asteroids and comets that may pose a threat to Earth in years to come. In Scientific American Focus: Cosmic Collisions Dana Desonie traces the history of cosmic collisions and proposes various solutions to what many view as our impending doom, answering these questions and more: -How often does Earth experience a cosmic collision? -Did a massive collision kill off the dinosaurs? -How do scientists track and predict collisions? -What did we learn from the Jupiter collision of 1994? -How real is the threat of a collision in our future? -How can we defend our planet?
Download or read book Foundations of Atlantis Ancient Astronauts and Other Alternative Pasts written by Jason Colavito and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-03-18 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did aliens visit ancient civilizations? Could Jesus have fathered a dynasty? Did people of the ancient world visit the Americas centuries before Columbus? The public enjoys such questions, which have spawned countless books, movies and television series, but very rarely is any actual evidence produced. According to many eager writers and television hosts, evidence for long-ago astronauts or early transatlantic voyages can be found in ancient texts. But too often sources remain obscure and some writers have altered or fabricated texts to make their case for extraterrestrials and lost civilizations. This book examines more than 130 very old texts used to make the case for Atlantis, aliens, fallen angels, the Great Flood, giants, transatlantic voyagers, ancient high technology and many other mysteries. English translations are presented with explanatory notes showing how these texts have been used and abused to make entertaining claims about prehistory.
Download or read book Pseudoscience and the Paranormal written by Terence Hines and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Television, the movies, and computer games fill the minds of their viewers with a daily staple of fantasy, from tales of UFO landings, haunted houses, and communication with the dead to claims of miraculous cures by gifted healers or breakthrough treatments by means of fringe medicine. The paranormal is so ubiquitous in one form of entertainment or another that many people easily lose sight of the distinction between the real and the imaginary, or they never learn to make the distinction in the first place. In this thorough review of pseudoscience and the paranormal in contemporary life, psychologist Terence Hines teaches readers how to carefully evaluate all such claims in terms of scientific evidence.Hines devotes separate chapters to psychics; life after death; parapsychology; astrology; UFOs; ancient astronauts, cosmic collisions, and the Bermuda Triangle; faith healing; and more. New to this second edition are extended sections on psychoanalysis and pseudopsychologies, especially recovered memory therapy, satanic ritual abuse, facilitated communication, and other questionable psychotherapies. There are also new chapters on alternative medicine, which is now marketed in our drug stores, and on environmental pseudoscience, with special emphasis on the evidence that certain technologies like cell phones or environmental agents like asbestos cause cancer.Finally, Hines discusses the psychological causes for belief in the paranormal despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This valuable, highly interesting, and completely accessible analysis critiques the whole range of current paranormal claims.
Download or read book From Eden to Exile written by Eric H. Cline and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2012-12-04 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eric H. Cline uses the tools of his trade to examine some of the most puzzling mysteries from the Hebrew Bible and, in the process, to narrate the history of ancient Israel. Combining the academic rigor that has won the respect of his peers with an accessible style that has made him a favorite with readers and students alike, he lays out each mystery, evaluates all available evidence—from established fact to arguable assumption to far-fetched leap of faith—and proposes an explanation that reconciles Scripture, science, and history. Numerous amateur archaeologists have sought some trace of Noah's Ark to meet only with failure. But, though no serious scholar would undertake such a literal search, many agree that the Flood was no myth but the cultural memory of a real, catastrophic inundation, retold and reshaped over countless generations. Likewise, some experts suggest that Joshua's storied victory at Jericho is the distant echo of an earthquake instead of Israel's sacred trumpets—a fascinating, geologically plausible theory that remains unproven despite the best efforts of scientific research. Cline places these and other Biblical stories in solid archaeological and historical context, debunks more than a few lunatic-fringe fantasies, and reserves judgment on ideas that cannot yet be confirmed or denied. Along the way, our most informed understanding of ancient Israel comes alive with dramatic but accurate detail in this groundbreaking, engrossing, entertaining book by one of the rising stars in the field.
Download or read book Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture written by William H. Stiebing Jr. and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-07 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introduction to the Ancient Near East includes coverage of Egypt and a balance of political, social, and cultural coverage. Organized by the periods, kingdoms, and empires generally used in Near Eastern political history, the text interlaces social and cultural history with the political narrative. This combination allows students to get a rounded introduction to the subject of Ancient Near Eastern history. An emphasis on problems and areas of uncertainty helps students understand how evidence is used to create interpretations and allows them to realize that several different interpretations of the same evidence are possible.This introduction to the Ancient Near East includes coverage of Egypt and a balance of political, social, and cultural coverage.
Download or read book Ancient Astronauts written by Sue L. Hamilton and published by Abdo & Daughters. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses observations from the pyramids, cave and rock paintings, the Starchild skull, and the Nazca Lines of Peru that may support the belief that aliens came to Earth long ago to help humans learn and develop.
Download or read book 50 Popular Beliefs that People Think are True written by Guy P. Harrison and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What would it take to create a world in which fantasy is not confused for fact and public policy is based on objective reality?" asksNeil deGrasse Tyson, science popularizer and author ofAstrophysics for People in a Hurry."I don't know for sure. Buta good place to start would be for everyone on earth to read this book." Maybe you know someone who swears by the reliability of psychics or who is in regular contact with angels. Or perhaps you're trying to find a nice way of dissuading someone from wasting money on a homeopathy cure. Or you met someone at a party who insisted the Holocaust never happened or that no one ever walked on the moon. How do you find a gently persuasive way of steering people away from unfounded beliefs, bogus cures, conspiracy theories, and the like?This down-to-earth, entertaining exploration of commonly held extraordinary claims will help you set the record straight. The author, a veteran journalist, has not only surveyed a vast body of literature, but has also interviewed leading scientists, explored "the most haunted house in America," frolicked in the inviting waters of the Bermuda Triangle, and even talked to a "contrite Roswell alien." He is not out simply to debunk unfounded beliefs. Wherever possible, he presents alternative scientific explanations, which in most cases are even more fascinating than the wildest speculation. For example, stories about UFOs and alien abductions lack good evidence, but science gives us plenty of reasons to keep exploring outer space for evidence that life exists elsewhere in the vast universe. The proof for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster may be nonexistent, but scientists are regularly discovering new species, some of which are truly stranger than fiction.Stressing the excitement of scientific discovery and the legitimate mysteries and wonder inherent in reality, this book invites readers to share the joys of rational thinking and the skeptical approach to evaluating our extraordinary world.
Download or read book The Human Odyssey A Hidden History written by Krsanna Duran and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Departure from the Garden represents the maiden flight of humanity from its earliest beginning with ancestors from the stars. The ancestor races evolved from the same universal code from which the oldest human species grew, many of whom have now left human evolution behind them to climb to even greater states within the universal code. The most ancient emblem on Earth observed in modern UFO contact guides the search for Native America's ancestors, those who returned to Mexico in 1991 in the most extensive UFO activity in modern history. Traces of Native America's ancestors, the ancient astronauts, have often been dismissed as too impossibly ancient to believe. And it is the factor of what can be perceived as reality or truth that is followed in this search for humanity through the manifestation of mind and the shamanic perspective in North America's oldest pyramids. Recent scientific discovery of super continents and new excavations at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey are examined in light of traditional lore from the remote corners of the Earth. The search for The People Of Life, those who opened the tree of life to repopulate Native America, leads through Earth's oldest cultures -- Egypt, Greece, India, Tibet and Mu, the motherland.
Download or read book They Would Be Gods written by Anthony K. Forwood and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2011 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience 2 volumes written by Michael Shermer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2002-11-14 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thorough, objective, and balanced analysis of the most prominent controversies made in the name of science—from the effectiveness of proposed medical treatments to the reality of supernatural claims. Edited by Michael Shermer, editor and publisher of The Skeptic magazine, this truly unique work provides a comprehensive introduction to the most prominent pseudoscientific claims made in the name of "science." Covering the popular, the academic, and the bizarre, the encyclopedia includes everything from alien abductions to the Bermuda Triangle, crop circles, Feng Shui, and near-death experiences. Fifty-nine brief descriptive summaries and 23 investigations from The Skeptic magazine give skeptical analyses of subjects as far-ranging as acupuncture, chiropractic, and Atlantis. The encyclopedia also gives for-and-against debates on topics such as evolutionary psychology and case studies on topics like police psychics and the medical intuitive Carolyn Myss. Finally, the volumes include five classic works in the history of science and pseudoscience, including the speech William Jennings Bryan never delivered in the Scopes trial, and the first scientific and skeptical investigation of a paranormal/spiritual phenomenon by Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier.
Download or read book Out of the Desert written by William H. Stiebing and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2012-07-03 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two of the best-known stories in the Bible are those of Moses leading his people out of Egypt and Joshua's conquest of the Promised Land. Indeed, they form one of the cornerstones of the Judeo-Christian tradition. But is the Bible a reliable source of information for Israel's early history? Are the Exodus and Conquest actual historical events? And if they are, when and where did they occur? Out of the Desert? rigorously examines accounts of these historic events and traces the authenticity, dates, and explanations for the Israelites' departure from Egypt and subsequent conquest of Canaan. Clarifying these events in a straightforward, informative manner, Out of the Desert? includes a generous number of charts and illustrations. William H. Stiebing, Jr. places the Exodus within its cultural context during the beginning of the Iron Age (1200-1100 B.C.), a time of drought, famine and collapse of social order, which gave way to the emergence and dominance of the tribes that joined forces to become the confederation of Israel. Many conventional ideas concerning the Exodus and Conquest are radically challenged in Out of the Desert?. Stiebing's accounts of archaeological digs and rival theories make the narrative lively and engrossing; his unique insight into the field of modern archaeology provides a rare glimpse into the wonders of man's history.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology written by Kenneth L. Feder and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-10-11 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a fascinating, encyclopedic antidote for the mysticism and pseudoscience surrounding well-known or highly publicized archaeological and anthropological "discoveries." Archaeology attempts to answer the question "where do we come from?" in the broadest sense possible; as a result, it is a highly interesting topic for all mankind. When did human beings first walk the earth? How did civilization develop? What compelled our human ancestors to build things like the pyramids, the Great Sphinx, or Monk's Mound? This book presents the widely unknown scientific facts behind the most popular and enthralling "mysteries" of our world from an expert archaeological perspective—and lays out the information and research in a manner that is approachable, engaging, and entertaining for any reader. Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum contains detailed and highly descriptive definitions for—and explanations of—terms related to extraordinary claims about human antiquity and its study. Some of the terms in this extensive list of topics relate to archaeological hoaxes. Many of the entries relate to dubious interpretations of the human past; some of the terms relate to far-fetched arguments that actually have produced evidence in support of their veracity.
Download or read book Piri Reis Map of 1513 written by Gregory C. McIntosh and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most beautiful maps to survive the Great Age of Discoveries, the 1513 world map drawn by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis is also one of the most mysterious. Gregory McIntosh has uncovered new evidence in the map that shows it to be among the most important ever made. This detailed study offers new commentary and explication of a major milestone in cartography. Correcting earlier work of Paul Kahle and pointing out the traps that have caught subsequent scholars, McIntosh disproves the dubious conclusion that the Reis map embodied Columbus's Third Voyage map of 1498, showing that it draws instead on the Second Voyage of 1493-1496. He also refutes the popular misinterpretation that Reis's depictions of Antarctica are evidence of either ancient civilizations or extraterrestrial visitation. McIntosh brings together all that has been previously known about the map and also assembles for the first time the translations of all inscriptions on the map and analyzes all place-names given for New World and Atlantic islands. His work clarifies long-standing mysteries and opens up new ways of looking at the history of exploration.
Download or read book Misanthropology written by Sean M. Rafferty and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-13 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Misanthropology: Science, Pseudoscience, and the Study of Humanity introduces students to key concepts in critical thinking across the four core branches of anthropology: cultural, linguistic, biological, and archaeological. It combines a critical analysis of anthropology as a field with current concepts in scientific skepticism. By deconstructing a range of global case studies in which anthropological research runs aground, the book teaches students to distinguish between legitimate science and pseudoscience. It covers key concepts in critical thinking and rigorous research, such as cognitive biases and logical fallacies, data collection and consensus, probabilistic thinking, as well as political, nationalist, racist biases. Students learn not only how to apply these concepts to anthropological research and fieldwork, but also to their consumption of everyday information. This book will appeal to anthropology students and will be particularly useful for instructors of introductory anthropology courses, as well as instructors of courses across the humanities and social sciences focused on inculcating critical thinking skills.
Download or read book Lost Knowledge written by Benjamin B. Olshin and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lost Knowledge: The Concept of Vanished Technologies and Other Human Histories investigates early texts that speak of sophisticated technologies millennia ago that became obscured over time or were destroyed with the civilizations that had created them.
Download or read book Archaeological Fantasies written by Garrett G. Fagan and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Including case studies, this collection of engaging and stimulating essays written by a diverse group of scholars, scientists and writers examines the phenomenon of pseudoarchaeology from a variety of perspectives.
