Editing Catastrophism (section)

===Immanuel Velikovsky's views===
{{Main|Velikovskyism}}
In the 1950s, [[Immanuel Velikovsky]] propounded catastrophism in several popular books. He speculated that the planet [[Venus]] is a former "[[comet]]" which was ejected from [[Jupiter]] and subsequently 3,500 years ago made two catastrophic close passes by Earth, 52 years apart, and later interacted with Mars, which then had a series of near collisions with Earth which ended in 687 BCE, before settling into its current [[orbit]]. Velikovsky used this to explain the biblical [[Ten Plagues|plague]]s of [[Egypt]], the biblical reference to the "Sun standing still" for a day (Joshua 10:12 & 13, explained by changes in Earth's rotation), and the sinking of [[Atlantis]]. Scientists vigorously rejected Velikovsky's conjectures.<ref name="UnMuseum">{{cite web |last1=Krystek |first1=Lee |title=Venus in the Corner Pocket: The Controversial Theories of Immanuel Velikovsky |url=http://www.unmuseum.org/velikov.htm |publisher=Museum of Unnatural Mystery |access-date=2007-12-14}}</ref>