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Summary:
Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods is a work of monumental importance--the first book to introduce the shocking theory that ancient Earth had been visited by aliens. This world-famous bestseller has withstood the test of time, inspiring countless books and films, including the author's own popular sequel, The Eyes of the Sphinx. But here is where it all began--von Daniken's startling theories of our earliest encounters with alien worlds, based upon his lifelong studies of ancient ruins, lost cities, potential spaceports, and a myriad of hard scientific facts that point to extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Most incredible of all, however, is von Daniken's theory that we ourselves are the descendants of these galactic pioneers--and the archeological discoveries that prove it... * An alien astronaut preserved in a pyramid * Thousand-year-old spaceflight navigation charts * Computer astronomy from Incan and Egyptian ruins * A map of the land beneath the ice cap of Antarctica * A giant spaceport discovered in the Andes Includes remarkable photos that document mankind's first contact with aliens at the dawn of civilization.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
great movie but.....
Customer Rating:
All I can say is the views are breath taking but the movie was made in the mid 1970's and I wonder if the author ever read Thor Heyerdahl's "Aku Aku" whereupon 12 men using ropes & two logs managed to raise a 25-30 ton statue onto a pedastal about 4-5' high.I personaaly don't like the fact he inflates the wieghts of the statues on Easter Island ,he stated that they wieghed several hundred tons each but the largest was around 107 tons BUT it was found still in the quarry still unmoved across the country-side in the mid-40's I think. Intellectural dishonesty I hate.
first item listed in science/astronomy section???!!!
Customer Rating:
Wow. I remember this thing was fun when I was a kid in the 70s. But so were comic books and bubblegum cards. What the heck is it doing in the science/astronomy listings?
No credibility...
Customer Rating:
Von Daniken was shown-up more than 25 years ago after claims he made regarding exploration of caves in South America were found to be fraudulent.
His guide even admitted so.
That, combined with his penchant for exaggeration, leaves him highly suspect.
We may well derive our knowledge from ancient 'visitors', but you won't find anything remotely approaching proof or respectable opinion with Von Daniken.
It makes my blood boil that this clown belittles human intelligence and ingenuity with his bogus claims.
For a real eye opener read "Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings" or "The Old Straight Track".
Humanity has been bolder and more clever for longer than most academics give us credit for. For the layman, recent History Channel specials have made that abundantly clear.
Mankind has explored the seas, built high and far, and floated in the skies without extraterrestrial aid. For example, at Nazca shreds of fabric with a tighter weave than modern parachute material have been discovered (years ago, while Von Daniken was hawking his "alien' theories!) and there are Peruvian pictographs of what seem to be hot-air ballons dating back a thousand years or more.
Yet, most people are only familiar with Von Daniken's "hot-air"...
For a slightly less singularly involved read, broad, fascinating and informative obtain one of the VERY inexpensive copies of Francis Hitchings out-of-print 1978 book "Mysteries of the Unexplained" which contains many accounts of anomalies regarding evidence of human achievement.
It also contains an outstanding item-by-item factual criticism of Von Daniken and his claims.
Did Spacemen Create Erich Von Daniken?
Customer Rating:
Reviewer Marney E. Mason writes: 'It is a shame that he [i.e., Erich Von Daniken] had to repeatedly ruin some good information with the single phrase "There can be no other explanation." He repeated this phrase throughout the book. Each time I saw it, I cringed. This phrase tries to cut off debate, stifles analysis, and generally hurts the credibility of the entire work.'
Marney has indirectly fingered Von Daniken's forensic strategy in "Chariots of the Gods", which can aptly be dubbed "Proof By Unanswered Rhetorical Question". Execution of the battle plan is simplicity itself. First, you cite some (presumably surprising) fact. Next, you recount, in singularly unflattering terms, what's supposed to be the received explanation of that fact. You then ask a how-can-this-be-possible?-type question cunningly formulated to invite the tacit reply, "It CAN'T be possible!" You now promptly conclude AGAINST the received explanation and, finally, segue to your FAVORED explanation exactly as if it's OBVIOUSLY the ONLY rational alternative. Thus: "The Great Pyramid is an architectural marvel. It's supposed to have been built six thousand years ago by ignorant Egyptians using only slave labor. But how could puny, know-nothing terrestrials possibly have erected such an edifice employing only primitive Bronze Age technology? ['They COULDN'T!' your mind screams silently in reply.] Well, if they COULDN'T, then they DIDN'T! But if TERRESTRIALS didn't build the Great Pyramid, then that leaves only ONE alternative [drum roll, please]: EXTRA-terrestrials did it! Q.E.D." See how easy it is?
Von Daniken is a flim-flam artist who has made a personal fortune rolling suckers. Televised documentaries have aired his responses when the falsity of some of his claims has been demonstrated right before his eyes: he just goes "dumb" and refuses to acknowledge anything. But Von Daniken has his groupies who, in common with the fans of Creation Science, have an apparently insatiable craving for pseudo-scientific drivel. VIVA LA STUPIDITA!
People still read this jackass?
Customer Rating:
I read von Daniken when I was 10. His fanciful comments were bizarre and unconvincing then, and now they seem downright quaint.
Don't get me wrong. I believe there is life out there. But I doubt that it is life that we could possibly come close to understanding, or even communicating with, no matter how sentient or advanced it is. It is unlikely that such species would give a damn about helping us progress.
His basic (and ultimately idiotic) premise is that humanity is incapable of creating anything of any worth, and that our species can only achieve greatness with a leg-up from these "superior" alien species that visit our planet for charitable purposes.
Doesn't really explain alien abductions, "[...] probes" and cattle mutilation, does it?
Von Daniken's "scientific" proof is shallow and unspecific, and is based on supposition and conjecture, if not simple guesswork. When he presents an argument he doesn't argue his point so much as he posits a question in such a way that disagreement invites scorn of anyone who disagrees with him.
He is a cheap carny snake-oil salesman of the worst kind, on a par with L. Ron Hubbard. He tells a good yarn that has about one percent truth to 99 percent bull-dust. And it is sucked up by the gullible.
So, at the very most, this is a fair book for understanding from where Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin got the initial idea for Stargate.
At the very worst, it is a misleading and peurile tactic to extort money from susceptible and ignorant people for whom Atlantis existed and Scientology is a viable religion. Von Daniken is tapping into the basic xenophobic ignorance and unstable fears that were generated by post-war paranoia in the 1950s, and the self-hating illogicality that promotes such idiocy as original sin and the end of times.
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