Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Recent Endorsements for Galileo Was Wrong

Here are some endorsements for the book Galileo Was Wrong by Robert Sungenis Ph.D. and Robert Bennett, Ph.D.

A truly magnificient work. There exists no better exposition of the history and science of geocentrism. Very highly recommended and a must for all those interested in the issues surrounding geocentrism today. The animations of the CD are excellent. They illustrate the daily and yearly motions of the sun and planets about the earth, the seasons, retrograde motion, and parallax in a uniform way. The authors have done a very admirable job all around.
Gerardus Bouw, Ph.D.
Astronomy
Author of Geocentricity

In their over 700-page book, Galileo Was Wrong, Drs. Robert Sungenis and Robert Bennett make a convincing case for the special and central position of the earth in the cosmos, both physically and spiritually. This is, of course, radically at odds from what everyone is taught from childhood; everyone "knows" the earth revolves around the sun. However, from time to time, like the little girl in Hans Christian Andersen's tale The Emperor's New Clothes, accepted "wisdom" is challenged; and what everyone "knows" to be true turns out to be merely a concocted fantasy. Drs. Sungenis and Bennett make a powerful case that the "truths" of heliocentric and acentric cosmologies aiming to describe the "fabric" of space-time may in fact be constructed out of the same type of "cloth" as the outfit of the Emperor. Admirably presented in a format accessible to a scientific layman, the authors dismantle "proofs" of the earth's motion such as Foucault's pendulum, stellar parallax, and stellar aberration. In exhaustive detail, the authors also present the results from modern physics (such as interferometer experiments) and astronomical observations, suggesting that in fact the position of the earth may be where it was held to be prior to the "Copernican revolution"; namely, the unmoving center of the universe. The authors provide quotes from eminent cosmologists admitting that this cannot be refuted by observation but is only rejected on philosophical grounds, and raise the disturbing possibility that part of modern cosmology and physics, including Relativity Theory, has been invented out of "whole cloth" precisely to avoid the philosophical implications of a universe with a motionless earth at the center.

While many of the arguments contained within Galileo Was Wrong have been previously presented by other geocentrists, it is unparalleled in the breadth and detail of the information presented supporting a geocentric cosmology and its accessibility to the lay reader. Galileo Was Wrong therefore stands as a unique reference and starting point for future debate among all who are searchers for the truth and willing to entertain the possibility that perhaps the little girl proclaiming the Emperor's nakedness was correct.

Unfortunately Galileo Was Wrong is likely to be scorned not only by the mainstream scientific community but also by the mainstream creationist movement. But all who believe that man's creation was not by "accident" would do well to consider the following questions, posed by the authors. Is the earth an insignificant rock, a mere chance artifact of the Big Bang, one out of many planets in one out of many solar systems, of no special position but hurtling with great speed through the cosmos towards no final destination in particular? Or has the earth been specifically designed by a benevolent Creator as the habitation place for man, the highest creation in the physical universe, and therefore placed in the central position in the universe? For an important corollary to the question of whether man came into being only by accident or via the design of an omnipotent and loving Creator is whether the place of his habitation in the universe likewise came into being only by accident or by design of a Creator, and whether its place in the universe has any importance or special significance. As others strive to restore man to his rightful role as the crown of physical creation as opposed to a mere assortment of molecules arising by chance, Drs. Sungenis and Bennett have made a powerful case for restoring man's central physical position in the universe.
Vincent J. Schmithorst, Ph.D.
Physics
Imaging Research, Ohio

The confrontation between Galilei and the Catholic Church is consistently portrayed as a sort of David and Goliath struggle, where truth ultimately triumphs. When this episode is examined in greater detail, however, a different picture starts to emerge, as so often is the case with many things that we are taught as being fact. If there exists an obligation upon each of us to think and to reason for ourselves, then it follows that there is also an obligation upon those who are able to conduct independent research to publish that research, no matter what ridicule and trouble is then heaped upon them for doing so. For unfortunately, in this Orwellian age of enlightenment in which we find ourselves, the Emperor's New Clothes fable has gone from being an amusing insight into human nature to a dangerous psychological weapon, with those who openly question and explore ruling paradigms being branded as extremists, fundamentalists, or conspiracy theorists.

In Galileo Was Wrong, Robert Sungenis and Robert Bennett have provided an excellent synopsis of a field of science that most people today have probably not even heard about. It is not a regurgitation of some ancient, debunked theory. Neither is this a lightweight paperback, in the vein of so many publications by scientists who have lost the dividing line between science and science fiction. Rather, Galileo Was Wrong, is a work of monumental proportion which ranks, in my opinion, on a par with the meticulous observations of the Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, and the tireless efforts of Walter van der Kamp who almost single-handedly raised geocentrism from the ashes in the 1970s and 80s. Although the World on which we all live gives an appearance of being located at the centre of the universe, is there any scientific evidence to say that it is at the centre? Conversely, is there scientific evidence to show that it definitely is not at the centre of the universe? What would a geocentric universe imply? To adequately contemplate these and similar questions necessitates our being in possession of facts, as opposed to simply making assumptions (even Albert Einstein took it as read that the World orbits the Sun, whilst acknowledging that there was no proof that this was indeed the case). In short, a formulated conclusion on such an important topic as this is only of value to anyone if it is based upon factual material. Galileo Was Wrong is a scholarly piece of work that should thus be welcomed by any thinking person, and that provides ample food for thought on our place within God's universe.
Neville Thomas Jones, Ph.D.
Physics
Imperial College, London

Galileo Was Wrong is an evocative book. It evoked memories which have lain dormant since my undergraduate days: things like the disturbing conclusions of the Michelson-Morley experiments; things like Leibniz's critique of Newton's system as shot through with appeals to occult properties; things like the fact that no one, least of all Newton, can explain what gravity is or refute the materialists' conclusion that it is intrinsic to matter. In their new book, Sungenis and Bennett take no prisoners. They look all of the anomalies in the current cosmological system in the face without fear and come up with conclusions that will startle the followers of Carl Sagan out of their dogmatic slumbers. Truth to tell, Newton was turned into an idol to serve the political purposes of the Whigs, who used him to bring down the House of Bourbon across the English Channel. His cosmological system was used as a justification of the Enlightenment. Now that the Enlightenment is over, it was inevitable that the system upon which it was based should come in for the powerful critique which Sungenis and Bennett provide. Not inevitable, however, was the brilliant way they provide it.
E. Michael Jones, Ph.D.
Editor: Culture Wars

Ironically, aerospace engineers assume an "earth-centered, earth-fixed" coordinate system when launching and flying satellites. The Global Positioning System (GPS) does the same for navigation on earth and in space. In Galileo Was Wrong, Sungenis and Bennett examine the "anomalies" that arise from the Copernican model, anomalies that are swept under the rug by the same scientists who assume the earth is immobile in order to "simplify" complex problems. A must read for those who can set aside prejudices and a priori assumptions.
Joseph A. Strada, Ph.D.
Aerospace Engineer, NRO

The book, Galileo Was Wrong, forcefully addresses the history, science, theological, philosophical, and worldview implications of our place in the universe. It is virtually a one volume encyclopedia on geocentrism. After the science has been discussed and the history has been told, it is a powerful reminder of the worldview struggle that faces Christians today.
Russell T. Arndt, Ph.D.
Chemistry, L.S.U.

It takes some measure of discipline to collate and assemble, in cogent form, the relevant scholarship touching on the matter of geocentricity. The task is complicated in no small part by the diversity of viewpoint evident among the adherents to this admittedly dissident approach to astrophysics. Well-intentioned but poorly-executed attempts along such lines have tended to discredit the geocentric model, and it is not without reason that the opposition focuses attention on such blatant misfires (if they focus attention on the issue at all). This volume, however, achieves a cumulative effect that is formidable. No one geocentrist, aside from the authors, will agree with every scientific tenet in this work, and many geocentrists might detect the absence of their primary concerns or preferred theoretical alternatives, myself included. How could it be otherwise? If the book were to be fully comprehensive, it could never enter print, its completion being diverted by continual data acquisition. It is right, then, that this effort storms the field in the powerful form it already exhibits, and it is my hope that it will become a living document, growing in value as new updated editions are issued.

I am not a Roman Catholic. Some may find it inexplicable that someone like myself, from the Protestant side of the aisle, would write an endorsement for this project. I believe that in the matter before us, we'd have to credit sectarian tunnel-vision for giving rise to such perplexity. My appreciation for the monumental labors of Drs. Sungenis and Bennett does not entail my adopting their views concerning the weight of Patristic evidence, for instance (although the difference between us is one of degree), and my endorsement of their work does not imply my repudiation of sola scriptura, among other distinctively Protestant positions. The critical question involves the value of the specific scholarship being presented. Just as the Chalcedon Foundation, a Protestant Christian educational institution, published the work of Notre Dame University’s Prof. Edward J. Murphy due to the importance of his work, so it is fitting and right to extol this particular compendium for so clearly demonstrating that the emperor's wardrobe is not merely diaphanous, it's positively massless (or expressed more plainly, the emperor, modern science, is wearing no clothes).

It is with pleasure that I remand this volume into the hands of the reader, whether he or she is an atheistic scoffer, a Roman Catholic inquirer, a Protestant polemicist, an Evangelical skeptic, or is otherwise motivated to re-open an issue heretofore thought, wrongly, to have been settled nearly four centuries ago. I would recommend approaching this work with as open a mind as you can muster. More importantly, I would urge the Christian reader to come to grips with our built-in, and very human, "lust for credibility", our desire to have "friendship with the world" and retain "the praise of man", all of which have sapped our resolve and lead to slippery-slope compromises that continue to lead men into the ditch. This is all the more remarkable, insofar as the present volume exposes the dark, seamy underside of modern science and its Janus-like propensity for speaking out of both sides of its mouth simultaneously. For the critic consulting the volume with the sole intent of attacking it, Drs. Sungenis and Bennett have provided the right thing indeed: a big, fat, juicy target. Therefore, let the debate begin in earnest. With documentation this thorough, the opposition can be quickly called on the carpet for misquotation or taking points out of context. Such interaction with hostile critics can only strengthen future editions of this work. If more Christians would raise the bar like these two authors have done, we would more readily perceive that the Word of God is an anvil that has worn out many hammers ... and will continue to do so.
Martin G. Selbrede
Chief Scientist, UniPixel Displays, Inc.
Vice President, The Chalcedon Foundation

Once upon a time, there was a big bang. It filled the sky with debris that formed into stars and planets. One planet developed a special slime that brought forth plants, animals, and men. The men became wise and discovered the truths of the universe. Or did they? Fairy tales have their place, but they should not be confused with science. Why has speculation come to replace observation as the basis of science? Galileo Was Wrong takes a critical look at the thesis that the Earth is flying through space. Here you will find an thorough review of the scientific observations along with a review of the scientists themselves. You will see how their unquestioning support of the thesis led them to redefine the nature of the universe. You will have the evidence to make up your mind for yourself. Robert Sungenis and Robert Bennett have done a great service to science and to men of good will. Those who see the universe as the handiwork of the benevolent God need no longer be subservient to fairy tales.
Anonymous, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Galileo Was Wrong is an amazing work which opened my mind to many things in the field of astronomy and cosmology. I am grateful to Robert Sungenis and his co-author Robert Bennett for this lucid, philosophically powerful and meticulously documented work. Looking at cosmology from the point of view of the "discredited" geocentric theory is a remarkable educational approach, and one that could be applied with profit to many fields today. Western culture reveals a hardening of the arteries of thinking all across the spectrum, and the recovery and exposition of alternative and dissenting views will be necessary to its regeneration. By its very nature, the geocentric theory occupies a central axis in this sclerosis of imagination and imperviousness to reality that so degrades the intellectual functioning of Western leaders and elites today. Many bad habits and automatic assumptions sprang from the rejection of geocentrism, and even to detail these, as Galileo Was Wrong does, is an achievement in itself. But there is more than excavation here. Galileo Was Wrong is a model for the kind of scholarship we need today- intellectual understanding not as an end in itself, but as a commitment to reality, infused with moral passion, love for the earth, common sense and philosophical sensitivity. We don't need "new knowledge" as the peer-reviewed science establishment keeps forever intoning so much as the ability to do things, and see things, differently. In our moral darkness, Galileo Was Wrong opens up an important path to the reconnection of thought and life.
Caryl Johnston, M. Ed., M.L.S.
Jerfferson Medical College
Author: Consecrated Venom