The SIS was formed in 1974 in response to the growing interest in global cosmic catastrophes, initiated earlier by the publication of Immanuel Velikovsky's book, Worlds in Collision and its attempted suppression by the academic establishment. His insistence on past planetary instability, particularly with regard to the planets Venus and Mars, the role of electricity in the cosmos and the use of myth to provide evidence in respect of his theories is well-known.
Mulitdisciplinary
Theories of global cosmic catastrophism demand that there should be corroboration between other disciplines. This makes cosmic catastrophism truly interdisciplinary and inclusive. Such disciplines and subjects include:
- archaeology,
- stratigraphy,
- psychology,
- archaeoastronomy,
- linguistics,
- biology,
- astrophysics,
- geomagnetism,
- religion,
- mythology,
- astronomy,
- evolution,
- palaeontology,
- various scientific dating methods
- biblical studies
Mythology and Religion
In conjunction with plasma physics and rock-art, the mythology of the axis mundi has also recently been given far more clarity.
Any reconstruction of how the solar system operated once and operates now will remain unacknowledged by orthodox scientists. That is unless those who find such new theories to be reasonable, continue to demand objective hearing and consideration of them. However, attempts at censorship and suppression of new and unorthodox ideas, by one means or another, are still commonplace.
Another of Velikovsky's claims was that the calamities that befell the Israelites at the time of the Exodus from Egypt were as a result of such instability in the cosmos.
Challenges
Many great discoveries and insights are made by intuitive non-scientists but, unfortunately, academia rarely welcomes challengers to established thinking. Despite this, in 1974 the SIS took up Velikovsky's challenge to the orthodox view of the cosmos - as being one of planetary stability - to investigate:
- The role that cosmic catastrophes may have played globally in ancient times
- How myths, recorded by cultures the world over, can help us discover what happened
- A new generation of catastrophists arose. They have continued to encourage investigation and exchange of ideas in all fields opened up by Velikovsky.
Art-history, ice-core dating, Earth reversals (or axis shifts) and the effect of catastrophes of any kind on Earth's climate, are also addressed.
So, too, the effect of past climate-change on chronology.
Of overarching importance is the role of electricity in the universe, which, although becoming accepted by more open-minded researchers and scientists, is still ignored by the UK 'establishment'.
Aligning the history of the Israelites in Egypt and the Exodus to the 12th and 13th Dynasties (rather than the 18th, as in the orthodox dating), he re-dated much of Egyptian history. This also generated many articles and papers.
For a comprehensive history of authors and their papers you cannot do better than to see Ancient History Revisions.