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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:
Did Spacemen Create Erich Von Daniken?
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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.
Complete Fiction
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I enjoy the ideas of another people. The book was completely fictional but I did enjoy hearing he's ideas. Chapter 2 really grabbed me it sets the tone for the book (I think).
Oh well ... Pass on it.
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Chariots of the Gods may be a good travel video of ancient artifacts but the severe lack of documentary evidence beyond going to ancient civilization sites is very lacking at best. There is no science or objective evidence and the DVD takes one to the sites and simply poses questions as to the unique ancient structures. There are probably much more worthy and contemporary documentaries on the topic of ancient space nexus. Therefore, I recommend to the potential viewer to pass on this DVD. The documentary could have been done so much better if there had been academic and scentific views expressed both pro and con to the thesis.
GREAT story... HORRIBLE logic
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The entire book can be exemplified in the single sentance quoted below:
"If we accept the formula of this brain trust, civilizations with more advanced technologies than ours may have existed hundreds of thousands of years ago-a fact that supports the theory put forward here of visits by "gods" from the cosmos in the dawn of time."
The 'formula' referred to is described as an equation of the probability of intellegent life on planets in our galaxy as determined by a meeting of astromomers to 'question the existence of extraterrestrial intelligences'. Such a formula can only be derived by sheer assumption using totally arbitrary mathematical ratios, since we obviously know of no other planet with ANY form of life, other than Earth. We simply have no basis to make an intelligent assumption on what the ratios should be. Yet, von Daniken in the very same sentance goes from siting this "formula" to assuming that some of these 'formulated' extraterrestrial civilizations MAY be older than ours, and caps it off by calling his possibility a "FACT" that proves we were visited by ancient aliens. Practically every page of the book is filled with these leaps of turning a 'supposition' into a 'fact'.
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