Earth In Upheaval

psychoanalyst performance art

“Earth in Upheaval” was intended to provide the geologic evidence to bolster claims made by Immanuel Velikovsky in “Worlds in Collision.” There is no indication in Upheaval that Velikovsky, a psychoanalyst, had any firsthand knowledge of any of the information he presents, that he had any understanding of geologic processes or that he had ever been in the field to examine any geologic deposits.

Below is a short section that encapsulates the vigor of Velikovsky’s analysis that unfortunately is repeated in many other places in Upheaval. In Arabic "harra" means lava flow.

“Twenty-eight fields of burned and broken stones, called ‘harras’, are found in Arabia . . . Some single fields are one hundred miles in diameter, stone lying close to stone, so densely packed that passage through the field is almost impossible. The stones are sharped-edged and scorched black. No volcanic eruption could have cast scorched stones over fields as large as the harras; neither would the stones from volcanoes have been so evenly spread. The absence, in most cases, of lava – the stones lie free – also speaks against a volcanic origin of the stones.” This is a description of an `a`a lava flow and the two eyewitness sources that Velikovsky cites identify “harras” as lava flows.

From there Velikovsky goes directly to his interpretation in the next paragraph: “It appears that the blackened and broken stones of the harras are trains of meteorites, scorched in their passage through the atmosphere, that broke in their fall, as bolides do, or on reaching the ground. Billions of stones in a single harra indicate that the trains of meteorites were very large and can be classed as comets.”

Oh, brother. Nice chatter but Velikovsky’s story is just plain wrong.

1. Clearly, Velikovsky had no firsthand field experience with lava flows (or meteorite trains)
2. Velikovsky states that the harras are too large to be lava flows but only 6 pages earlier he discusses lava deposits that are 25 times larger
3.`A`a lava flow patterns on the landscape rule out airfall deposition and active `a`a lava formation can be seen today; images and video of “aa lava” are available through your favorite search engine
4. Although he put great stock in eyewitness accounts in “Worlds in Collision,” Velikovsky ignores the eyewitness accounts identifying harras as lava flows
5. Velikovsky either didn’t consult geologists or ignored their input
6. With no reason or justification, no presentation or evaluation of supporting evidence, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that `a`a lava is broken up comets
7. Velikovsky had absolutely no idea of what he was writing about but that didn’t stop him from making up a story and writing seemingly authoritatively about it (if you don’t know anything about a topic, it’s better to remain silent than to speak up and remove all doubt)

When the incorrect information is removed from Upheaval (especially related to plate tectonics, mountain building, ocean basins and glaciation) you’re left with a mishmash of odd stories that have no clear relationship with each other. Velikovsky doesn’t show how the various geologic stories are related but insinuates there’s a connection and lets the readers make the connection in their minds. Earth in Upheaval is basically psychoanalyst performance art and the joke is on those who believe it.

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