Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets: Paradoxes Resolved, Origins Illuminated

by Tom Van Flandern

Tom Van Flandern's book adds a new dimension to cosmology--not only does it present a novel approach to timeless issues, it stands up to the closest scientific scrutiny. Even the most respected scientists today will readily admit that the Big Bang Theory is full of holes. But it takes a new look, like Dark Matter, Missing Planets, and New Comets, to explain not only why the theory is wrong but what to substitute in its place. If you are curious about such things as the nature of matter and the origin of the solar system, but feel inadequately equipped to grasp what modern science has to say about such things, read this book. You will not get the all too common condescending attempt to water down the `mysteries' of modern science into a form intelligible to little non scientist you, but rather a straightforward new theory, logically derived in front of your eyes, which challenges the roots of many of today's complex accepted paradigms, yet whose essence is simple enough to be thoroughly communicated to the intelligent layman without "losing it in the translation."

Genres: Science, Physics

552 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1993

About the author

Thomas Charles Van Flandern, American astronomer.

Reviews

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Van Flandern turns cosmology on its head! This is a well written and interesting book that raises questions about the nature of the universe and the origins of our solar system. I will need to re-read this book to fully understand what he wrote about gravity and the origins of the universe, but the exploded planet(s) hypotheses is delightfully juicy, makes so much sense, and has so much observational data to back it up. Tom Van Flandern also raises a particular problem that affects all scientific fields - that scientists are dogmatic and resistant to change, even in the face of evidence, and are more likely to shut down new ideas and hypotheses before even examining them or the associated evidence. An enjoyable read that provides lots of food for thought and rumination - even if I'm not sure I agree with some of the stuff (more research needed on my part). It would be lovely if someone could update/revise this book with all the new research in the last 15 years.
Additional website: https://www.metaresearch.org/

[William Cane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Tom Van Flandern and SEEING RED by Halton Arp are two of my favorite astronomy books. Van Flandern's volume is beautifully written and contains enough anti-mainstream material to keep the most curious and open-minded reader up nights. The Exploded Planet Hypothesis is worth the price of admission all by itself. Of course, the book offers much more! The section on pushing gravity is also noteworthy, as is the discussion of comets. Modern astronomy is a mess, and you feel sorry for the scientists who have wasted their careers on what any intelligent reader can easily see is nonsense: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, the discredited Big Bang Theory . . . and the list goes on.

[Dan Zarfati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a lay man, and it took me three weeks to read it all. This is a book that gives you fundamental information on every sentence, I could not get enough of it, strongly recommend it for every truth seeker out there, it is not really difficult to read it. The only flaw of the book in my opinion is the fact that Dr Van Flandern never developed the idea of Dark Matter, he does not write more than a paragraph about it, I also must say that I don't believe the author is write in every single of his hypothesis, but if he is right on 30% of them then reality is very different than you can grasp, and as a matter of fact I believe he is mostly write. So if you are looking for an intellectual challenge and want to put your understanding of cosmos, look no further, just read this book as soon as possible, and have a good trip.

[Peter Pike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very well written, even on the sections that I disagree with (such as his idea of an alien intelligence influencing humanity in the building of the Pyramids and so forth). Since it's been over two decades since this book was written, it's interesting to see how some of Van Flandern's theories have become accepted due to empirical verification (such as the discovery of satellite bodies around minor planets/asteroids) while others have been disproven (such as the face on Mars being revealed as a natural formation that really looks nothing like a face).

One aspect that I did particularly enjoy was Van Flandern's point that scientists are dogmatic and resistant to change, even in the face of evidence, and that to combat this requires a modification to the concept that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." This really gets into the philosophy of science, which most scientists prefer to ignore (or rather, to accept as an un-argued-for presuppostion) since it's really a faith claim, rather than scientific. So while I don't find his arguments for an infinite universe compelling, for instance, I do think that science needs to wrestle with the claims, and I think it does highlight some problems with the Big Bang theory that need to be addressed.

Overall, an enjoyable book, even despite all the stuff I disagreed with in it.