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June 28, 1951
Dear Dr. Velikovsky: I must apologize for not having written you before to thank you for sending me a copy of the June Harper’s. In point of fact, I had read that issue of Harper’s before your copy reached me; and the first thing that I read in it was your article, Stewart’s article and you reply. Talking purely as a layman-and it was presumably to convince laymen that Stewart wrote his article—it seems clear to me that instead of Stewart demolishing you, you very thoroughly succeeded in demolishing Stewart. In other words, your comments on Stewart’s article are to my lay mind unanswerable. Moreover, if Stewart’s article is the best that the orthodox astronomers can do against your hypothesis, than their case is very weak indeed. In this connection I read the series of articles which Hoyle had in Harper’s between November, 1950 and March of April, 1951, with a great deal of interest. The thing that struck me most about these articles was the ephemeral character of the theories which successive generations of astronomers have been pontifically propounding to the world as “discoveries” of absolute truth. I could not forget that Jeans and Eddington thoroughly discredited Laplace and other early astronomers with their new theories as to the origin of the solar system. Now come Hoyle and Nettleton only ten or twenty short years after Jeans and Eddington, and thoroughly discredit their theories as well. It therefore occurs to me that if the holy script of orthodox astronomy is of so temporary theories and beliefs are the fashion among them every ten years or so, what right have they got to question your hypothesis with such conviction? I am looking forward with eagerness to reading your next book when it comes out. My wife and I are leaving for a trip to Europe and Israel in a week or so. When we come back, we shall give ourselves the pleasure of ringing you up and having you and your wife over at our home. In the meanwhile, with warmest regards to both of you, and with admiration for the manner in which you are sticking to your guns, I remain. Yours sincerely, Abraham Tulin |