Re: Robert Anton Wilson
Hal Finney (hal@rain.org)
Tue, 8 Jul 1997 18:22:06 -0700
> ONE NOW FASHIONABLE SUGGESTION I FIRST PROPOSED IN 1960 IS
> THAT THE HIGH TEMPERATURES ON THE SURFACE OF VENUS ARE DUE TO A
> RUNAWAY GREENHOUSE EFFECT. (All emphasis added and deserved)
>
> "First, Sagan claims that Dr. Velikovsky does not deserve
> credit for predicting high temperatures on Venus because
> everybody knew it, although historical fact shows that only Dr.
> Wildt had made the same prediction before Velikovsky. Then
> Sagan either tells a double lie or else suffers an alarming
> memory lapse that may require neurological consultation claiming
> that neither Dr. Wildt nor Dr. Velikovsky had made this
> prediction (which they had, and he had noted earlier) -- and
> then he brazenly claims he had originated it himself. Quite a
> performance wouldn't you say?"
> - Robert Anton Wilson, "The Astronomer Who Abolished Gravity,"
> Cosmic Trigger III, Mask, (Tempe, AZ, 1995),pp. 197-198
I'm not familiar with the details of this controversy, but I can read
what is written above. Sagan is not claiming to have predicted high
temperatures. He is taking credit for offering a specific explanation
of the high temperatures, namely that they were caused by a runaway
greenhouse effect. Wilson is wrong to say that Sagan is claiming that
he originated the prediction that Venus would have high temperatures.
Hal