PLEASE NOTE:
*
SORRY: (TOO MANY) LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR
------------------------------------------
MODERATOR'S NOTE: What started two years ago as a small e-mail
list
with some 30 members has now grown into an international network
with
600+ subscribers from around the world. Just as the numbers of
list
members have increased, the focus of interests and the issues of
debate
have widened. This is reflected both in the multitude of
contributions
by list members as well as in the broadening range of topics
covered on
the CCNet.
In addition, the recent introduction of the "Letters to the
Moderator"
seems to have further stimulated communication among subscribers.
This is very welcome. However, not all of us are similarly happy
about
the direction the CCNet has taken in recent months. This is also
true
with regard to the moderator. Given that I am still relatively
unexperienced in moderating such a large scholarly online forum
(with
all its inherent debates, controversies and demands), I am just
as
uncertain about how best to maintain the scientific quality,
intellectual inspiration and thought-provocing intention of this
network. It would thus appear that, after two years of existence,
a
re-assessment of the current CCNet format, its contents and its
future
structure is a desideratum. As mentioned some days ago, I intend
to
post an electronic questionnaire on these and other issues in due
course. It will be the main aim of this exercise to listen to the
ideas and suggestions of subscribers so that the network can
improve to
be highly informative, intellectually stimulating and extremely
research friendly.
Subscribers are therefore kindly asked to wait with their
comments,
suggestion and ideas until the questionnaire will be circulated
next
week.
Benny J Peiser
P.S. SOME GOOD NEWS: All those of you who feel that there are too
many
(or too many irrelevant) "letters" circulated on the
CCNet will welcome
a major change which will be introduce as of next week: list
members
who only wish to receive CCNet DIGEST can unsubscribe from
receiving
"Letters to the Moderator" (see next week's survey for
details).
-----------------
(1) QUICK - THE FLIT!
Sir Arthur C Clarke
(2) JANUARY 0, 2000/2001
Alan W. Harris <awharris@lithos.jpl.nasa.gov>
(3) YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A YEAR ZERO
Chris Aikman <aikman@seameadow.com>
(4) KEEP THE ORIGINAL FORMAT
David Morrison <dmorrison@arc.nasa.gov>
(5) PLUTO: AN UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT
David W. Hughes <d.hughes@Sheffield.ac.uk>
(6) TOP TEN MOVIES IN GERMANY 1998
Christian Gritzner <gritzner.eurospace@potsdam.com>
(7) MORE ON ANCIENT ASTRONOMY
Bob Kobres <bkobres@uga.edu>
(8) THOUGHTS ON THE NAZCA LINES
John Michael <morieninstitute@angelfire.com>
(9) NO PROBLEM WITH MARKING TIME IN FINLAND
Timo Niroma <timo.niroma@tilmari.pp.fi>
=================
(1) QUICK - THE FLIT!
From Sir Arthur C Clarke
Dear Benny,
I know what GRB's really are - part of an on-going vermin
extermination
programme.
I enjoy skimming through CCNet Letters, but sometimes wish they
were
shorter.
I now receive so much information via email that I've often
considered
disconnecting myself - apropos of which, I've just written a
short
piece of fiction which I'm about to send my agents.
Keep up the good work!
All best,
Sir Arthur
27 Jan '99
PS: Did you know what caused the Dark Ages? The Y1K problem.
===================
(2) JANUARY 0, 2000/2001
From Alan W. Harris <awharris@lithos.jpl.nasa.gov>
Re: CCNet DIGEST 26 JANUARY 1999
>"Because the Western calendar starts with Year 1, and
not Year 0, the
>21st century and the third millennium do not begin until Jan.
1,
>2001," Clarke said.
Dear Benny,
I hasten to point out that those who choose to overlook the lack
of
zero in our year count and celebrate the new millennium in 2000
should,
for consistency, realize that we similarly lack a day zero in our
monthly day count. So they should properly celebrate at the
moment of
January 0, 2000, not January 1. That's one day sooner than
"new year's
eve" as generally recognized. I think I'll do both, or all
three, just
to be sure I don't miss a thing.
Cheers,
Alan Harris
============================
(3) YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A YEAR ZERO
From Chris Aikman <aikman@seameadow.com>
As one of the multitude who are growing a bit weary with the
debate as
to when the next millennium begins, let me point out the obvious,
that
the matter rests entirely on the reference point from which one
starts
counting. Just because the Romans had no mathematical concept of
zero
and no symbol for it does not mean that zero as a mathematical
concept
does not exist. Even though there is no zero year in the common
AD/BC
calendrical system, compilers of tables of solar and lunar
eclipses
have for a long time used an astronomical calendar where AD dates
are
represented as +, 1 BC is the year zero, and 2 BC the year -1,
etc.
This allows the time interval between positive and negative years
to be
calculated by simple algebraic subtraction. So a calendrical
system
with a year zero does exist and is quite respectable, even if not
commonly referred to. For positive dates there is no need to
distinguish it from the common system. The Romans were great
militarists and engineers, but lousy mathematicians. Let us not
be
bound eternally by their shortcomings.
Chris Aikman
http://www.seameadow.com
===========================
(4) KEEP THE ORIGINAL FORMAT
From David Morrison <dmorrison@arc.nasa.gov>
You wrote:
The areas of research interest and scientific topics discussed on
the
CCNet are still the same as those listed some two years ago:
* The British School of Coherent Catastrophism
* Punctuated Evolution and the Mass Extinctions Debate
* Historical Catastrophism & Civilisation Collapse
* Cosmic Impacts and the Origins of Life
* Assessing the Impact Hazard
* Towards Planetary Defense & a Planetary Civilisation
* The social and cultural Implications of Neo-Catastrophism on
Science, Philosophy & Religion
I think this is a good list, but in fairness to your readers you
should
note that you do not consistently follow your own guidelines. If
you
did, you would note be posting items relating to global warming
or the
designation of Pluto as a planet or planetary protection
(e.g. biological
back-contamination) or solar wind implantation in meteorites or
Mars
exploration strategies or discovery of external planetary systems
or
properties of the sun as a star, to name just a few of the topics
that have
appeared (some of them multiple times) in the past few
months. I'd vote
for dropping these and keeping with the original purpose of the
CCNet!
David Morrison, NASA Ames Research Center
==================
(5) PLUTO: AN UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT
From David W. Hughes <d.hughes@Sheffield.ac.uk>
Wednesday 27th January, 1999
Dear Benny,
The latest comments about Pluto brought to mind the first chapter
of a
wonderful book by Martin Harwit, called Cosmic Discovery: The
search,
scope and heritage of astronomy (Harvest Press, 1981, ISBN 0 7108
0089
4)
Harwit talks of an astronomical zoo. Each cage contains a
different
kind of celestial animal. So there is one cage for terrestrial
planets,
one for jovian planets, one for comets, one for main belt
asteroids,
one for 'things in 2:3 resonances with Neptune', one for 'big
satellites of Jovian planets' and so on. The chapter
examines the
whole ethos of astronomical classification.
I am convinced that Pluto should be taken out of the jovian
planet
cage.
I think we are at a stage in science at which we are not sure
what
Pluto is, but have clear opinions about what it is not.
Having taken Pluto out of a planetary cage we are not, however,
forced
to make Pluto share a cage with something else. So it does
not have to
join the 'big satellites of Jovian planets', or the
'Kuiper-Edgeworth
belt objects'. Pluto might be unique. May be our best bet is to
put it
in a cage all by itself until we have been there, had a good look
and really discovered its characteristics. As it stands, it is
just an
unidentified flying object.
All the best,
Dr David W. Hughes
=====================
(6) TOP TEN MOVIES IN GERMANY 1998
From Christian Gritzner <gritzner.eurospace@potsdam.com>
Dear Benny,
recently I found in the news magazine FOCUS (No. 53, 28. Dez.
1998) the
German cinema Top Ten of 1998, including the two NEO movies of
that year:
(Rank 1: Titanic)
Rank 2: Armageddon, 5,281,763 visitors
....
Rank 6: Deep Impact, 3,080,506 visitors
A lot of people have seen these movies here! It must be similar
in
other countries. We should use the chance to bring the NEO topic
to the
public and to the decision makers in saying: "Maybe you have
seen
Armageddon or Deep Impact, but reality is different!"
Greetings from Potsdam,
Christian
Dr.-Ing. Christian Gritzner
EUROSPACE Technische Entwicklungen GmbH
Potsdam Office
Lindenstr. 6
D-14467 Potsdam, Germany
Tel.: +49-331-284-3305 (FAX: -3434)
E-mail: gritzner.eurospace@potsdam.com
Homepage: http://www.eurospace.de
==============================
(7) MORE ON ANCIENT ASTRONOMY
From Bob Kobres <bkobres@uga.edu>
A bit more about the value of ancient observations, as well as
other
non-planet associations with the number SEVEN, from Judith
Kingston
Bjorkman's METEORS AND THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST (METEORITICS 1973,
8, pp
91-132).
[Page 92-93]:
Almost all of the astromantic texts which speak of meteors, etc.,
are
of a type also known as celestial omens. An example of such a
text is
the following (Thompson, 1900, 202 obv. lines 5 to 9):
If a shooting star flashes (as bright) as a light or as a torch
from
east to west and disappears (on the horizon): the army of the
enemy
will be slain in its onslaught.
To those trained in the physical sciences, such a description may
seem
hopelessly subjective and unrelated to reality. However, a closer
acquaintance with omen literature will show the reverse to be
true.
The basic ideas underlying the collection of omens are that
history may
repeat itself, and that the gods are speaking to mankind in one
way or
another (Grayson arid Lambert, 1964, 9-10). Therefore, with
reference
to the celestial omen cited above, it was apparently observed at
one
point in history that a shooting star flashed from east to west
and, as
a matter of fact, the enemy troops were slain in battle. These
two
events were thus connected and preserved as a message from the
gods
that could also be true for the future.
It seems obvious that there was every reason for the Mesoptomians
to
observe the world carefully and candidly in this kind of scheme,
and
that their efforts to connect cause and effect, indeed, exemplify
the
same intellectual process operating in science today. In
addition,
since omens were not written to glorify the king, an historical
reliability superior to that of other forms of cuneiform
literature can
be expected (Finkelstein, 1963, 463; cf. Biggs, 1967, 117ff.). As
it
turns out, the amount of specific information contained in
celestial
omens which might contribute to, say, political or economic
history, is
miniscule. But the numerous descriptions of celestial phenomena
are an
important chapter in the history of science, and my approach in
this
paper is that, regardless of how bizarre a description may be,
the
omens are treated first of all as descriptions of real events.
It is beyond my capabilities to assess completely the historical
reliability of every text. Nevertheless, the following would seem
to
indicate that actual events are described in most cases. The fact
that
omens relating to meteors, etc., are few in number, compared to
omens
pertaining to the sun, moon, eclipses, fixed stars, etc.,
compares well
with the realities of nature. Almost all of the phenomena
described fit
in very easily with descriptions of similar phenomena throughout
history.
Caution must be exercised, however, in considering lists or pairs
of
omens in which one differs from its predecessor only by a word or
brief
phrase. While in all probability an actual event was the basis
for at
least one omen of such a list, it is likely that the rest of the
omens
were the invention of a scribe who was trying to cover all
reasonable
possibilities (Oppenheim, 1964, 211). Some obvious examples of
these
less-than-historical omens are not difficult to recognize in the
following Sections, see especially pages 102 to 106.
Omen literature in general was subjected to collection and
systematization, beginning sometime in the second millennium B.C.
The
systematization of these collections "represents high
scholarly
achievement" (Oppenheim, 1964, 210). Many of the celestial
omens
dealing with meteors, etc., occur scattered in various omen
collections. The majority are from a huge collection of ca. 7,000
omens, called Enuma Anu Enlil. This is translated as, "When
Anu and
Enlil," and refers to the opening phrase of the collection.
A small
number of celestial omens occur in texts known as namburbu texts,
which
describe magical procedures for avoiding potential evil, in
particular,
the evil indicated by an ominous sign. Other texts concerning
meteors,
etc., occur in letters to kings from court astromancers (8th and
7th
centuries B.C.), in commentaries, prayers, omens from dreams, and
other
miscellaneous categories.
Since most of the meteor texts are omens, they exhibit the
characteristic structure of omens, which consists of two distinct
halves. The first half is the protasis or "case,"
the second half is
the apodosis or "consequence." This structure can be
seen clearly in
the omen quoted above. There is almost never a
"logical" connection
between the protasis and apodosis (Oppenheim, 1962, 284). In
addition,
there is rarely any context for an omen, i.e., there is not
necessarily
any connection with preceding or following omens. Therefore the
useful
material, from the point of view of meteoritics, consists of
isolated
sentences and phrases. Since many of the tablets are broken at
the
point of the apodosis, it is of some slight comfort to reflect
that the
information that is lacking was perhaps not of great moment.
[Page 106-107]
III. METEOR SHOWERS AND COMETS
The texts which deal with meteor showers and comets are not very
lengthy. In a scribe's collection of prodigies which predicted
the
downfall of the dynasty of Agade, it is remarked that "many
stars were
falling from the sky" (CAD K 48b). A broken omen text says,
"If the
stars (in) their fall are many [ ]"
(von Soden, 1959+, 657 sub
miqtu). A possible reference to meteors falling
repeatedly occurs in
a text translated below, p. 121 (Virolleaud, 1905+; Supp. 2, 65
line
6). Two lines from another section of Enuma Anu Enlil
(Virolleaud,
1905+, Adad 17), where the context mentions stars, possibly refer
to a
meteor shower from a bolide:
33. [If Adad thunders and seven (stars) fall: that means, they
burst
into flames, (no apodosis given).
38. [If . . . seven of them fall down: bad weather will destroy
the
temple.
Other lines in this section look interesting, but are broken and
difficult to translate. The fact that a number of stars are
mentioned
may indicate that originally a meteor shower was observed. The
repeated
use of the exact number, seven, is open to additional
interpretation,
however. There is another text which has been translated as
referring
to a shower of shooting stars (Thompson, 1906, 10,18), but this
interpretation is called into question by a more recent
translation of
a similar text (cf. Landsberger, 1934, 161, and CAD K 46b). An
Assyrian
medical text deals with a disease of the eyes in which the eyes
seem to
be full of all kinds of things. The incantation commands these
things
collectively to "rain down like (shooting) stars!" (CAD
Z 42b), meaning
perhaps to leave the eyes.
A comet seems to be clearly mentioned in this text (CAD S 75a):
if a star which has a beak in front (and) a tail in back is seen
and
illuminates(?) the sky like a meteor (sallummu), (variant) like
the
glow of the stars (me-sih MUL.MES), (explanation) sallummu = glow
of a
star.
This text is an astromantic commentary designed to explain more
about
sallummu than to elaborate on the comet. Nevertheless, the
reference to
a ''beak in front" seems to differentiate the comet from a
bolide,
which, as we have seen, can also have a tail. A photograph of a
modern
version of a "beak" can be found in Middlehurst and
Kuiper (1963, Plate
4 following page 602). In another cuneiform text (CAD Z 102a) the
same
phrase describing the beak and tail of a comet is found twice,
but with
little else in the way of context. I cannot evaluate the remarks
by
Weidner' (1923/24, 205) about additional references to comets.
It is probable that the word BIBBU sometimes refers to comets.
See the
discussion in Section VI.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BTW: I've made Kugler's "Sibyllinischer Sternkampf und
Phaethon in
Naturgeschichtlicher Beleuchtung" available in .PDF file
form at:
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/kugler/default.htm
Also, if you haven't noticed, I've reformatted the CCC-archive so
all
files are now in a separate directory (bobk/ccc) and are daily
(so
smaller). Each will be named: cc[month][day][year].html--for
example:
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc010499.html
The menu is still at:
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/cccmenu.html
Later.
bobk
Bob Kobres
===================
(8) THOUGHTS ON THE NAZCA LINES
From John Michael <morieninstitute@angelfire.com>
Dear Benny,
In LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR (22. Jan. 1999) Steve Zoraster asked
whether the figures (geoglyphs) drawn on the Nazca Plain in Peru
might have any relationship to cosmic impacts?
The figures seem to be representations on the ground of the
constellations as seen and symbolised by their ancient builders.
A
survey done by an American astronomer, Dr Phylis Pitluger (if
that is
the correct spelling) showed that the 'Spider' geoglyph not only
represented the constellation of Orion, but that the straight
lines
that pass through and next to the drawing mark the shifting of
the
stars of Orion due to the precession of the equinoxes.
Given the proliferation of geoglyphs on the Nazca Plain that
symbolised to their builders the various constellations as seen
from
those latitudes, and the even greater number of straight lines
and
trapeziod drawings that cut through them, they would possibly
provide
fruitful research opportunities for those looking for evidence of
observation of meteor streams associated with cosmic impacts in
South
America during those times.
As part of our 'geoglyphs project' I have put some aerial
photographs
of the 'Spider of Orion' and other geoglyphs on the Nazca Plain
at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3168/Global.
html
Hope this is helpful,
JM
Sefydliad Morien Institute
Bangor
CYMRU
=================
(9) NO PROBLEM WITH MARKING TIME IN FINLAND
From Timo Niroma <timo.niroma@tilmari.pp.fi>
Dear Benny,
Re. Duncan Steel's "Marking Time". Finland was part of
Sweden, when it
began to use the Gregorian calendar in 1753. After the war in
1808-09
Finland was taken from Sweden and enclosed in the Russian Empire
with
great autonomy. Finland retained its Gregorian calendar
throughout the
whole autonomy from 1809 until its independence in 1917 (and of
course
after that).
There is absolutely no problem with the calendar in Finland after
1753.
Regards,
Timo Niroma
----------------------------------------
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