Velikovsky died in 1979. From working essentially alone through most of the first twenty years of his research, supported by a few who, while receptive to his ideas and prepared to defend them, in the main tended not to be active contributors, he saw the emergence of a vigorous new generation of participating researchers from archeology, history, philosophy, as well as practically all of the physical sciences.
The journal Pensée, was founded by Stephen and David Talbott in 1971, and that gave way in 1976 to Kronos, under the editorship of Lewis Greenberg, stimulating the growth in North America of what has become something of a parallel universe of catastrophism existing alongside the traditional mainstream disciplines. In Britain, the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies was founded under the impetus of Howard Tresman and puts out the journal Chronology and Catastrophism Review, besides hosting a regular program of workshops and conferences. In 1989 the journal Aeon appeared, edited by David Talbott, Dwardu Cardona, and Ev Cochrane, and since 1993 Charles Ginenthal has been publishing The Velikovskian, usually running at four issues of 120 pages or so each per year.
Establishment science, on the other handin its official stance, anywayseems still to be ruled by its own propaganda from twenty-five years ago. The notion of catastrophic events figuring in the Earth's history has become commonplace, sure enoughbut only if they are kept comfortably in the remote past and involve impacts by minor objects occurring in essentially the Solar System as it exists today. But any thought of major instabilities and encounters between the planets themselves is still off-limits, let alone the possibility of their happening recently. It would mean opening minds to accepting that it could happen again, and maybe unconsciously that's simply too much to face.
Electromagnetic influences far from Earth are a familiar part of the picture revealed by the space program; conferences are held regularly to present papers on such topics as ancient cometary encounters, revisions to history, mass extinctions, sudden climatic changes, and the fission of minor planets from the gas giants. It's hard to find one of Velikovsky's ideas that wasn't once derided and rejected with ill grace, only to be quietly wheeled in through the back door of "respectable" science later. That would be forgivable to a degree if the originator of the ideas were acknowledged and given credit as such in the references. But in what are considered the mainstream journals, he never is. Any mention of Velikovsky is a fast ticket to rejection by the review committees, academic ostracism, and probable oblivion. It would be too clear an admission of how the system works to preserve the Establishment monopoly on funding, tenure, journal access, and influence on policymaking.
But fiction writers are free to follow their inclinations, and so I gave Velikovsky's work the dedication for Cradle of Saturna tribute to a person I consider to have been one of the most original and innovative thinkers of our time. I'm sure he didn't get everything right, and his supporters remain divided over many issues. But Velikovsky's true genius, I would submit, lies in recognizing the possibility that ancient myths and legends might represent cosmic events that actually happened, and asking why planets that most people today would be unable even to find in the sky should have dominated human life to the degree that they did, and been seen universally as objects of awe and terror.
Copernicus didn't have all the details right eitherhe got the Sun in the center but thought the planets moved on circles rather than ellipsesbut that doesn't diminish what we refer to today as the Copernican revolution. For that to get past the Aristotlean professors of the day and catch on generally took about a hundred years. Of the names that took part in the Inquisition hearing in San Francisco in 1974, I wonder which will be known, say, two centuries from now.