Craters, Cosmos, and Chronicles: A New Theory of Earth by Herbert R. Shaw

[Cosmos]

I haven't read nor gotten a hold of a copy of this book yet. I found it through a new episode from Randall Carlson's podcast (starting here) in which he mentioned it, while providing some pretty interesting details from it and explaining that it was a pretty difficult read for him when he first attempted to read it back then, but that now he should be better equipped to understand the content, since he has more mathematical tools at his disposal now compared to the 1980ies when he read it. (It was actually published 1994 and has 688 pages, so Carlson probably confused the date). So it seems to be a rather difficult read, probably with quite some advanced mathematics and geometry as basis.

What got me especially curious was Randall mentioning that Shaw came up with some sort of theory via "chaotic dynamics" that could explain how and why impacts on earth seem to be attracted in certain areas more than in others and in certain sequences and patterns. Also that Carlson mentioned the idea of "impact swathes" that Shaw developed in the book, got me quite curious, since he seems to suggest that they adhere to certain time frames and patterns.

Here is what Randall said in the podcast, transcribed. My additions are [in brackets]:

Randall: "[Carlson showing a possible straight alignment of two caters on a map on the screen, possibly in straight connection/alignment with the "Richat Structure"] Here we have the Temimichat Crater [, the Tenoumer Crater] and the Richat [Structure] and they are in a dead perfect alignment."

The host: "Oh man, like it was a... what are those called? A bombardment, were something breaks up and it hits in a line...?"

Randall: "Yeah, umm hmm."

The host: "Yeah... wow!"

Randall: "Is that the explanation [for the Richat Structure and the other two craters], I don't know... It is another interesting coincidence. And I don't know... But yeah, that's the first thing it would suggest... [...] But, you know I'm not sure yet of the dating of these other craters... so that would be the next thing to research...?

But you know the work of Herbert Shaw that he did [called] "Chronicles, Craters and Cosmos". He basically used chaotic dynamics to develop this idea that impact events on earth were not randomly displayed but actually cohered to certain patterns and that there were certain regions and alignments... And it is a very complex deep book... I tempted to read it once [but] I have more mathematical tools at my disposal now, so I'm actually wanting to reread the book, because I tempted to read it when it first came out in the 80ies. Yeah, he basically refers to impacts swathes... that even over time there will be certain places on earth that are more susceptible to impacts. Which I find to be a very interesting idea..."

The hosts: "Yes. We kinda joked about that a little bit; about how stuff is always blowing up over Siberia..."

So I looked it up and found it on amazon, where one 5 star review gives a short synopsis of the book, as follows:

Leading thoughts on the behavior of earth systems.

Shaw is a pioneer blazing trails for earth scientists into real applications of the popular but rarely applied theories of dynamical system behavior. This text is a landmark in science that opens doors to new ways of thinking, challenges many scared cows of the science, and points to better paths. Anyone interested in Choas, fractals, system dynamics or earth processes in general will find this book a deep intellectual keystone to scienctific thoughts.

And I found a paper from 1995, that refers to Shaws book and tells us the follwoing in the Abstract:

Craters, Cosmos, and Chronicles: A New Theory of Earth
Alan R. Huffman
First published: 11 July 1995

Abstract

The notion that the Earth might be influenced significantly by external forces has always been a rather disquieting concept for geoscientists who are trained to think in terms of uniformitarianism. The mass extinction debates of the last 15 years and the strong disagreement among advocates of impact and terrestrial extinction mechanisms are classic examples of this issue. A new book by Herbert R. Shaw makes the case that the evolution of the Earth and other planets has been significantly affected by extraterrestrial processes throughout their histories, and these processes are part of a universal system of coupled nonlinear oscillators. Shaw argues that clustered bombardment by extraterrestrial objects—along swaths that are constant over specific time periods—has been a major force for change acting in concert with planetary geodynamic forces to shape the face of our world and the other planets in the solar system.

The book sounds like something not only Ark and Pierre might be interested in, in their research.

 

[nicklebleu]

There are 9 copies available on Abebooks.com, for instance here (that give you the link to all other copies).
Problem is they only ship in the US - you would have to use third party shipping or send it to someone in the US who diverts it back to you.

 

[Chad]

While looking around for the book itself, i came across the following that gives us a little bit more of an idea about its contents:

Science Frontiers
ONLINE
No. 98: Mar-Apr 1995

Issue Contents

A Unified Theory Of Geophysics

It takes a lot of nerve to propose a theory that can unite such a fragmented field as geophysics. H.R. Shaw makes a try in his new book: Craters, Cosmos, and Chronicles: A New Theory of the Earth. Shaw's ideas have recently been reviewed in Science News and our item is based on that article.

Shaw contends that cosmic projectiles -- asteroids and comets -- have controlled almost all features of the earth's evolution. For example:

• Impacts have determined the positions of the continents.
  
  
• They have controlled the geomagnetic field.
  
  
• They have created volcanoes and massive basalt flows.
  
  
• They have caused mass extinctions.

Of course, for two centuries, other catastrophists have proposed similar dire consequences of giant impacts. But Shaw does introduce three ideas that are worth recording here.

Large impact craters occur in swaths. Although this has been suggested before, Shaw has mapped out several swaths where large craters of about the same age are located. His "K-T swath" includes the Chicxulub crater (Yucatan), the Manson crater (Iowa), the Avak crater (Alaska), and three more in Russia -- all of which were gouged out about the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary. Shaw has plotted several other swaths of different ages.

The application of chaos theory to solar system debris. Shaw hypothesizes that nonlinear gravitational effects channel asteroids and comets into the inner solar system in intermittent bursts. The bursts are then captured by the earth and other inner planets, with some of these objects grouped in like orbits.

Gravitational feedback occurs from earth to orbiting debris. Shaw believes that the uneven distribution of mass inside the earth -- due probably to the impact that created the moon -- influences where asteroids and comets impact. In turn, these large objects keep smashing into the same regions and their cumulative effect contols the flow of material inside the earth. Then, this change in mass distribution feeds back to change orbits and impact swaths.

The above is just a taste of what is revealed in Shaw's book of 600+ pages. It cannot fail to be controversial.

(Monastersky, Richard; "Shots from Outer Space," Science News, 147:58, 1995.)



From Science Frontiers #98, MAR-APR 1995. © 1995-2000 William R. Corliss

A Unified Theory Of Geophysics