David
Talbott was the founder and publisher of Pensée magazine’s
ten-issue series, "Immanuel Velikovsky Reconsidered." The
series achieved international recognition in the 1970’s as the most
authoritative treatment of the
Velikovsky controversy.
The first issue became the
number one best seller on several college campuses and inspired
stories in Readers Digest, Analog, Time Magazine, Newsweek,
Physics Today, Chemistry, Industrial Research, World Medical Tribune,
and numerous other publications. Portions of the Pensée
series were published by Doubleday as the book Velikovsky
Reconsidered.
As a result of worldwide publicity (and 75,000
copies through three printings of the first issue), both the British
Broadcasting Corporation and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
showed documentaries on Velikovsky, and both programs were
re-broadcast due to popular interest.
In 1975 Talbott received a large advance from Doubleday
for The Saturn Myth, based on an article he had written for
Pensée—"Saturn: the Polar Night Sun"—and an outline. This was
said to be the largest advance the company had ever given a
previously unpublished and unknown author. The Saturn Myth
was published in 1980.
Talbott has been on numerous national talk radio programs
(including Art Bell, Whitley Strieber, Jeff Rense, Laura Lee, and
Zoh Hieronymus), plus dozens of regional programs. Many hosts will
testify that the programs were among their best ever. He has been
invited to give presentations across the U.S, Canada, and Europe.
At
various events he has shared the stage with
Oxford University
astrophysicist Victor Clube, co-author of Cosmic
Winter and Cosmic Serpent
the distinguished
astronomer Halton Arp, author of Seeing Red
astronomer Tom
Van Flandern, formerly with the Naval Observatory
Anthony Peratt
of Los Alamos Laboratories, the recognized leader in the field
of plasma cosmology
Robert Bass,
former chairman of the astronomy department and mathematics
department at Brigham Young University
Roger Wescott,
founder of the anthropology department, Drew University, and
founder of the Canadian and American Linguistics Association
Vine Deloria,
one of the country’s most popular Native American authors
and dozens of other
well-accredited scientists and scholars
Talbott’s work
was the subject of a 90 minute documentary film, "Remembering the
End of the World,” a film made prior to any of his present
relationships with leading scientists.
Then, in 1997, he developed a
close alliance with Australian physicist Wallace Thornhill,
and the two began working on projects together. A breakthrough came
in September 2000, at a conference in Portland, Oregon, at which
Talbott and Thornhill began a close working relationship
with a noted plasma theorist. In 2001 that relationship culminated
in a plasma experiment at the most sophisticated laboratory in the
world, the results of which astonished even the plasma experts,
while confirming a vital tenet of Talbott’s hypothesis.
The story of this experiment will provide a climactic turn in the
forthcoming book Thunderbolts of the Gods, co-authored
by Talbott and Thornhill. The new support from
plasma experiments has now altered the life’s work of more than
one specialist in fields directly impacted by the hypothesis. One
result is that Talbott has received personal and financial
support from the Overseer Emeritus of one of the most
distinguished archaeology museums in America.
A new program on
planetary catastrophe has been established at a major Eastern
university. The Near Eastern Studies and science programs at
this university are among the most respected in the world.