Psychedelic Apes: From parallel universes to atomic dinosaurs – the weirdest theories of science and history

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From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Elephant's on Acid comes a collection of the wackiest theories from science and history. What if we’re living inside a black hole? What if we’ve already found extraterrestrial life? What if the dinosaurs died in a nuclear war? What if Jesus Christ was actually a mushroom?In Psychedelic Apes, bestselling author Alex Boese will delve into the curious scientific subculture of weird theories. Thoroughly bizarre and contrary to the established norm, these ideas are often vehemently rejected by the intellectual community.From the creation of the universe to the evolution of humans, the birth of civilization right through to our more recent past, Psychedelic Apes explores some of the craziest ideas from science and history and shows that, sometimes, even the weirdest theories may be proved true . . . Cover Title Contents Introduction 1. Cosmological Conundrums What if the Big Bang never happened? Weird became true: radio astronomy What if our universe is actually a computer simulation? What if there’s only one electron in the universe? What if we’re living inside a black hole? Weird became true: dark matter What if we live forever? 2. A Pale Blue Peculiar Dot What if the Earth is at the centre of the universe? What if planets can explode? Weird became true: the heliocentric theory What if our solar system has two suns? Weird became true: continental drift What if ten million comets hit the Earth every year? What if the Earth is expanding? 3. It’s Alive! What if everything is conscious? What if diseases come from space? Weird became plausible: the vent hypothesis What if the Earth contains an inexhaustible supply of oil and gas? What if alien life exists on Earth? Weird became (partially) true: the Gaia hypothesis What if we’ve already found extraterrestrial life? 4. The Rise of the Psychedelic Ape What if the dinosaurs died in a nuclear war? What if our ancestors were aquatic apes? Weird became true: the out-of-Africa theory What if we’re descended from a pig–chimp hybrid? What if hallucinogenic drugs made us human? Weird became true: cave art What if humanity is getting dumber? 5. Mushroom Gods and Phantom Time What if ancient humans were directed by hallucinations? Weird became plausible: beer before bread What if Homer was a woman? What if Jesus was a mushroom? Weird became true: ancient Troy What if Jesus was Julius Caesar? What if the Early Middle Ages never happened? Epilogue Acknowledgements Bibliography About the Author Copyright