October 27,1953

Immanuel Velikovsky
4 Hartley Avenue
Princeton, New Jersey

Dear Dr. Velikovsky:
Since I know nothing at all about Egyptology or archaeology of any sort I feel constrained to return your book, because it is about as intelligible to me as if it were written in Greek. You understand that my role in the radiocarbon dating has been solely that of inventor and user of the method. I have gradually learned a little bit about Egyptology and archaeology, but it is miniscule in dimension.

We have dated several samples of petroleum. All of them have been of great antiquity. One sample reported from the Gulf sediments proved to be of measurable age. This is described in an article by Paul Smith in Science, about one year ago. I enclose reprints and a reference to a book which I published on radiocarbon dating. I am sorry that I have no copies of the book left. I remain

Very sincerely,
W. F. Libby