Weird astronomical theories of the solar system and beyond

Abstract

After addressing strange cosmological hypotheses in Weird Universe, David Seargent tackles the no-lessbizarre theories closer to home.Alternate views on the Solar System's formation, comet composition, andthe evolution of life on Earth are only some of the topics he addresses in this new work.Although these ideasexist onthe fringe of mainstream astronomy, they can still shed light on the origins of life and the evolution of the planets. Continuing the author's series of bookspopularizingstrange astronomy facts and knowledge, Weird Astronomical Theoriespresents an approachable exploration ofthe still mysterious questions about the origin of comets, the pattern of mass extinctions onEarth, and more.The alternative theories discussed here do not come from untrained amateurs. The scientists whose work iscovered includes the mid-20th century Russian S. K. Vsekhsvyatskii, cosmologist Max Tegmark, Britishastronomers Victor Clube and William Napier, and American Tom Van Flandern, a specialist in celestial mechanics who held a variety of unusual beliefs about the possibility of intelligent life having come from elsewhere. Despite being outliers, their work reveals how much astronomical understanding is still evolving.Unconventional approaches have also pushed our scientific understanding for the better, as with R.W. Mandl's approaching Einstein with regard to gravitational lensing. Even without full substantiation (and some theories are hardly credible), their hypotheses allow for a new perspective onhow the Solar System became what it is today