Exodus to Arthur: Catastrophic Encounters with Comets by Mike Baillie soon to be presented for sale on the sparkling BookLovers of Bath web site!
Published: London: B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1999, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Graphs; Black & White Drawings; Tables; Glossary;
From the cover: Professor Mike Baillie argues that the Earth has undergone several catastrophic encounters with comets, or their debris, over the last five thousand years, and that these cosmic devastations are accurately preserved in Old Testament and Chinese texts, and in many myths and legends across the world.
This extraordinary scenario is based on the scientific analysis of ancient tree-ring patterns. A tree-ring chronology is a year-by-year record of what trees thought of their growth conditions in the past. Such records took many years to construct, and it is only in recent years that the chronologies have finally become available for study. When the chronologies are interrogated, we observe some positively alarming evidence of extreme environmental events in the past, which also seem to be recorded in human history. When first noted, these extreme events were thought to be linked solely to volcanic activity. However, even large, explosive volcanic eruptions are not supposed to bring down dynasties or cause Dark Ages. Now new pieces of evidence, and repeated linkages between the human descriptions of the events, have forced the story to turn extraterrestrial.
It is only now, with the firm chronological framework provided by the tree rings, that the story can be put together. There is no doubt that the story is surprising. However, it would be easier to believe that the account in this book is true than to believe that all the apparently logical steps could just be one big mistake. The reader must judge.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Dust wrapper very slightly rubbed at the edges. Text complete, clean and tight.
Black boards with Silver titling to the Spine. 272 pages. Index. Bibliography. 9½” x 6¼”.
Of course, if you don’t like this one, may I fascinate you with a carefully selected medley hither or maybe further, hand picked, books in my Astronomy catalogue?
BookLovers of Bath 