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William Napier (astronomer)

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William M. Napier (born 29 June 1940) is a Scottish author. Napier is best known for authoring five high tech thriller novels and a number of nonfiction science books that concern fringe and pseudoscientific theories.

Career

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He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1963 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1966, both from the University of Glasgow.

Napier is a professional astronomer who has worked at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, the University of Oxford and Armagh Observatory. He is currently an honorary professor of Astrobiology in the Center for Astrobiology at Cardiff University, which describes him as "a leading figure in the dynamics and physics of comets, and a pioneer of the modern versions of catastrophism."[1] And honorary professor at the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, which describes him as, "a pioneer of modern studies of the impact hazard due to asteroids and comets," and also as having, "carried out an investigation of long-running claims of anomalous QSO/galaxy associations."[2] His research work focuses on comets and cosmology. The result of his collaboration with Victor Clube and others on the role of giant comets in Earth history is known as "coherent catastrophism."[3]

According to Napier, 13,000 years ago the earth was affected by a major, rapid cooling event that caused the extinction of a large number of species and a major disruption of paleoindian cultures. Napier argues for the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis that the cooling event was caused by the collision with "a dense trail of material from a large disintegrating comet,"[4] an idea that has been refuted.[5] He is a member of the Comet Research Group,[6] which raises money for, and conducts research in this area as well as biblical archaeology.[7]

Selected bibliography

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Fiction (as Bill Napier)

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  • Nemesis (1998), a science-fiction thriller
  • Revelation (2000)
  • The Lure (2002)
  • Shattered Icon (Splintered Icon in the US) (2003)
  • The Furies (2009) (St. Martin's Press)

Nonfiction

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  • The Cosmic Serpent (1982), with Victor Clube
  • The Cosmic Winter (1990), with Victor Clube [8]
  • The Origin of Comets (1990), with M. E. Bailey and Victor Clube

References

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  1. ^ "Cardiff Center for Astrobiology, Staff". cardiffcentreforastrobiology.com. Cardiff Center for Astrobiology. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Professor William M. Napier". www.buckingham.ac.uk. University of Buckingham. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. ^ Asher, D. J., S. V. M. Clube, W. M. Napier and D. I. Steel (1994). Coherent Catastrophism. Vistas in Astronomy, 38 (1), 1-27; Abstract at Harvard.edu
  4. ^ "Was a giant comet responsible for a North American catastrophe in 11,000 BC?". Science Daily. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  5. ^ Holliday, Vance T.; Daulton, Tyrone L.; Bartlein, Patrick J.; Boslough, Mark B.; Breslawski, Ryan P.; Fisher, Abigail E.; Jorgeson, Ian A.; Scott, Andrew C.; Koeberl, Christian; Marlon, Jennifer; Severinghaus, Jeffrey; Petaev, Michail I.; Claeys, Philippe (26 July 2023). "Comprehensive refutation of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH)". Earth-Science Reviews: 104502. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104502. S2CID 260218223.
  6. ^ "Scientists & Members". Comet Research Group. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  7. ^ Boslough, Mark (2022). "Sodom Meteor Strike Claims Should Be Taken with a Pillar of Salt" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer. 46 (1): 10–14.
  8. ^ Nuttall, Nick (24 May 1990). "A cosmic trail with destruction in its wake". Times of London. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
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