Legend of Atlantis and The Science of Geology (eBook)

Atlantis and Catastrophe: Myth or Reality?

Joseph O'Donoghue (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
376 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-1028-5 (ISBN)

Infos

This book is the first of a series that is itself the first serious scientific and open minded treatment of Plato's Atlantis legend to have been written by a qualified geologist in the last one hundred years, at least. Contrary to most geologists, the author treats the legend in a balanced way, without preconceptions or the dismissals that so typify the usual academic attitude to the question. In parallel with this treatment of Atlantis, the author takes a critical approach to the orthodox science of geology, and its theories. There is a simple either/or question here; if geology has everything right, then Atlantis is a myth. If, on the other hand, the Atlantis legend can be shown to have some validity, then the science of modern geology could be potentially false, and the science of geology will be investigated throughout this series. Therefore, this book series endeavors to redress the imbalance in the way these two subjects have been officially treated. A thorough study of the Atlantis question should determine its reliability, while a critical analysis of the science of geology should do the same for the so-called story of our planet. This first volume focuses on the Atlantis legend itself, and analyzes it from a mythological point of view, including classical and modern scholarly opinion, language, structure, and what is known about Plato. Most importantly, the legend will be analyzed from a geological point of view and other myths about floods and catastrophes will also be investigated. Catastrophe and flood legends are prevalent the world over, but in this study, certain legends from the Pacific Northwest of the United States were discussed by academic geology in connection with the new discipline of geo-mythology. This volume takes a serious look at these legends and the orthodox treatment of them. The conclusions reached in this volume are that the Atlantis legend cannot easily be dismissed, and would appear to be based on real events in the distant past.

The author graduated for University College Cork, Ireland, in 1986 with a Batchelor's degree in geology and began his career as a professional geologist working on water resources and environmental geology in both Ireland and the United States. Finding that the work of a geologist did not really appeal to him, he left the field and pursued his keen interest in the science of geology independently. His interest in the earth sciences was matched only by his interest in ancient archaeology, and the intersection of the two. Driven by a primary interest in the enigma of the Ice Age, the author embarked on a quest to solve what is probably the greatest mystery in geology, undeterred by the many decades of prior and futile efforts that had preceded his. Growing up near formerly glaciated landscapes in Ireland, and living among them in the Northeastern U.S., he became very familiar with the evidence the Ice Age left behind. Careful observation, an eye for detail, and an open mind enabled the author to achieve insights previously missed or obscured by an excessive adherence to traditional gradualist academic doctrine. His review of the geological sciences extended back to the early years of the science and to a time when catastrophism was the dominant view of earth history. The question to be answered, therefore, is whether modern-day gradualist uniformitarianism is correct or whether some form of catastrophism holds the better answer. And, after thirty years of study, the author considers the latter to be much more correct. The author's approach to his critical analysis of the Atlantis legend and the science of geology is based solely on the evidence and underpinned by the laws of physics, and, using much scientific evidence and those same laws of physics, this series seeks to demonstrate that the geological history of this world may well be very different to what orthodox academic geology says it is, and that lost Atlantis may indeed be a reality.

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"e;Atlantis and Catastrophe, Myth or Reality"e; is the first volume in a new series about the mystery of Atlantis. The strictly scientific nature of this series is revealed by its title: "e;The Legend of Atlantis and the Science of Geology."e; While many are the books that have been written about Atlantis, this volume, and series, differs from most in that the author is a qualified geologist, and here presents a serious scientific treatment of the legend. The academic establishment, governed as it is by gradualist uniformitarian geology, takes a dismissive view of Atlantis and all such catastrophe legends. In this series, and very much breaking with convention, this author takes an open-minded approach to the Atlantis question, and, for balance, a critical approach to the science of geology. There is a very simple either/or question to be answered by this series: if modern geology has everything right, then the Atlantis legend is a myth with no basis. On the other hand, if the Atlantis legend can be shown to have validity, then this raises questions about the validity of the theories of orthodox geology---and vice versa. The science of geology has had quite a varied history, and, as many people know, there was a time when notions of Atlantis, and catastrophes in general, were taken a good deal more seriously than they are today. This book series, therefore, seeks to redress the inequality in the way Atlantis and geology have been officially treated. A thorough study of the Atlantis legend itself should give a sense of its reliability, or otherwise, while a critical analysis of geology should do the same for the so-called story of our planet. This first volume focuses on the Atlantis legend from both geological and mythological points of view and includes a survey of classical and modern scholarly opinion of the legend, its language and structure, and its trustworthiness in light of what is known of Plato himself and his times. Catastrophe and flood legends are prevalent the world over, and a general global survey of such legends is included. Further, in this study, a sampling of legends from the Pacific Northwest of the United States are discussed and analyzed through the new discipline of geomythology. Because catastrophist geology has long since been rejected, there is no room in academia today for legends such as Atlantis and its catastrophic end. This series of books will show, however, that the natural history of this earth is quite possibly very different to what modern geologists claim it to be, and the fabled island of Atlantis may indeed be lying at the bottom of the Atlantic, right where Plato said it was.

Textauszug

GENERAL SERIES OUTLINE

THE FOLLOWING PROVIDES A PRELIMINARY OUTline of the overall series, which, thus far, is estimated to involve eight volumes, each of 300 to 400 pages or so. While some early volumes are complete, or almost so, and others drafted to a certain extent, later volumes have not yet been taken much beyond the outline stage. The series has, however, been generally planned out, and much of the research material obtained, and because I have been researching for the past thirty years or so, I have already read many of the books and papers that will be used in such later volumes.

Volume 1

We begin with Atlantis, starting with the legend itself. We first examine it to see what it tells us of the island continent and the North Atlantic. The legend also speaks of Greece and the Aegean, and we leave those for volume 2. A brief look at the relevant sections of the legend follows, especially those parts referring to the destruction. We then analyze the legend from the point of view of mythology, including what ancient writers said of it. Next comes a classical and philological analysis. We finish up volume 1 with chapters on the relatively new discipline of geomythology. This is the official, if we can call it that, academic treatment of myths and legends from a geological point of view, and apart from Atlantis, we look at myths from various places. We hear a lot from people both within and without academia, and we see that attitudes and opinions are not so monolithically united as academia would like the public to believe.

Volume 2

We continue with Atlantis and what the priest has to say about Greece and the Aegean. Being done with mythology at this point, this volume is almost entirely geological in nature. We first see what the legend says, and then we look at the recent structural geology of the Aegean area as well as mainland Greece. It is here we meet the Ice Age for the first time, as well as many of the sacred so-called Principles of Geology. Greece, as we’ll see, is littered with surface deposits of various kinds, mostly concentrated in the valleys, as might be expected, having been washed in there by something. And it is the “something” that is interesting; it must, of course, be able to do the work asked of it, and we will see just what it is being asked to do. Greece also has much palaeontology of interest, especially with regard to the animals that went extinct at the end of the Ice Age. We may be surprised at just how much evidence there is on Greece to support the view that the Atlantis legend has considerable validity, and, by the same token, we may also find that we cannot say the same for uniformitarianism.

Volume 3

Volume 3 is devoted entirely to Great Floods, scientific, historical, and legendary, focusing particularly on Noah’s, and its Sumerian equivalents, the latter possibly being the original source. Apart from minor amounts of mythology and a look at other writers’ claims, this volume is almost entirely archaeological and geological. Noah’s Flood, like Atlantis, has long been dismissed or, in this case, written off as just a local flood. In Mesopotamia, the supposed site of the Flood, we will see if there is any evidence for a major flood having swept over the region at about the correct historical or legendary time. This volume, like this series in general, is an unbiased, non-ideological, and solely scientific look at the great floods of Mesopotamian legend. However, based on what we will have just seen on Greece, we may have to extend our enquiries further back into the past to see what happened in Mesopotamia and the surrounding region at about the time of Atlantis’ destruction.

Volume 4

Leaving geology for a while, we focus on the archaeology of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean: Türkiye, the Levant, and around to Egypt. We continue on to Libya and Malta, with some brief mention of sites in the western Mediterranean, before moving out into the Atlantic. The archaeological evidence that we will examine, in the form of buildings mostly, is generally referred to as megalithic, meaning construction that involves the use of very large (mega) blocks of stone (lithic). What is problematic about them is that they are all extremely old on the one hand and inexplicable from the point of view of engineering on the other. They appear to predate everything else, as though from an early and advanced civilization. In association with the archaeology, we include some geology of the Levant and especially the Nile Valley, the Sahara, and North Africa. We will find some very strange archaeological remains in Egypt and other places, as well as fossils and other surprising evidence in the bone-dry Sahara.

Volume 5

We begin our study of the Atlantic by defining its general structure and its various provinces, as well as its terrestrial surroundings and any islands. We study the surrounding shores, the continental shelves, and the nature of the lands and landforms bordering the ocean on both sides. We then begin an exploration of the depths and follow the first of the oceanographers of the 19th century, the telegraph cable layers, and the first scientific expeditions from different countries, and the surprising finds they made. It is here we meet much of the hard evidence for the former, and recent, existence of land in the Atlantic.

Moving into the 20th century, we get much more information from more modern oceanography. Better sampling equipment was in use, and the findings now get even more interesting and much more difficult for the uniformitarians to explain (or explain away). We also discuss the many features of the seafloor, such as fjords, undersea canyons, seamounts, earthquakes, undersea and subaerial volcanism, and, of course, the mid-Atlantic ridge. Much of what will be presented here is evidence that hasn’t heretofore been recognized or officially acknowledged for what it actually is, but it certainly suggests the former existence of large masses of dry land in the central North Atlantic Ocean.

We finish out this volume with a focus on the biological evidence from both sides of the ocean and from islands in it. It demonstrates the similarities and, in many cases, identicality of many animal and plant species from both sides and on their recency, in that these species have not been isolated from each other for very long. We will also see that most of the species, of either type, cannot travel or survive in seawater. They also couldn’t migrate by any other means, as has often been suggested. Included in this volume also is a section on archaeology, from both sides of the ocean, as well as, surprisingly perhaps, the ocean floor itself.

Volume 6

We begin our study of geology proper with an overview of the history of the science, beginning in Europe and followed by Britain and the United States. We are really only interested here in the 19th century but will refer to the 18th and extend, to a certain degree, into the 20th. We first discuss the development of the science and its theories, and we’ll discuss catastrophism and uniformitarianism along with the Ice Age and so forth.

We then analyze all the geological processes that we’ve been persuaded are so effective at wearing down this world of ours, whether it be rain, rivers, ice, glaciers, and so on. Here we use a lot of common sense, everyday experience, eyesight, and lots and lots of simple physics. We also meet a lot of imaginary processes and agents dreamt up and drafted in to do the work that Charles Lyell’s uniformitarianism patently cannot do, some of which we meet in volume 2. We also have a good look at catastrophism and why it remains a favored explanation.

Volume 7

This volume is dedicated to the Ice Age. Here we see what, exactly, is involved and just what the evidence is. We look briefly at some of the theories that were concocted to account for this so-called Ice Age. We also look at the ice caps we currently have for comparison purposes, and we examine their behavior and investigate their origins. We also deal with climate change, and by that I mean radical, extreme, and rapid climate change, involving changes through one or more climatic regimes, for example, tropical to temperate.

There are no plans to publish a volume on present-day so-called climate change, it being, in reality, relatively minor global warming, and not in the same league as the radical climate change to be discussed in this series.

Volume 8

Finally, we bring together everything we have seen in the series and correlate all the evidence into one comprehensive and overarching theory that accounts for all the evidence we’ve seen. Now that we know just what is involved and what we have to explain, the key that unites it all can be revealed, demonstrating that the legend of Atlantis is grounded in fact, uniformitarianism is invalid, and catastrophism is the correct interpretation of that evidence. We see that those early geologists had it right, right at the beginning, even if they couldn’t explain the cause of such catastrophes, their extent, or their severity. Such catastrophes are, as the early geologists said, separated by long periods of quietude as we see today.

Author’s Notes

The foregoing should be considered a preliminary outline of the series and subject to change, most likely by the addition of further volumes due to space...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.4.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geologie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-1028-5 / 9798350910285