Maurice Cotterell

Maurice Cotterell is a British writer whose publications promote forms of alternative science and supposed ancient prophesies. He calls his writing style "adventure fact".

His writings argue that the 28-day spinning Sun regulates fertility in females and that it determines the personality of the foetus in the womb, corresponding to sun-sign astrology. He says that the Sun causes schizophrenia, that mobile/cell phones and overhead power lines cause cancer, and that TV and computer screens cause miscarriages. He also believes that the Sun brings periodic catastrophic destruction to Earth every few thousand years.

Codebreaking
Cotterell claims that in 1989 he found a way (not detailed) of calculating the duration of long-term magnetic reversals on the Sun. Using this knowledge, he believes he was able to break the codes of ancient sun-worshipping civilizations:
 * the Maya of Central America,
 * Tutankhamun-era Egypt
 * Viracocha Inca of South America

He then claims he cracked the "codes" (methodology also not detailed) of the Terracotta Warriors of China, and the Celts of Europe.

He claims that his own unique decoding process "reveals amazing pictures from archaeological treasures that explain the spiritual mysteries of life; why we are born, why we die and why this has to be."

Gravity
Because of his own faulty understanding, Cotterell denies the validity of Newton's equation. He maintains that there's "a problem" with it which is never discussed because scientists are too embarrassed by it.

He has also said that when an object, such as a gyroscope, is spun it becomes weightless. He cites a demonstration by the engineer Eric Laithwaite which emphatically did not show that.

In 2018 Cotterell wrote an essay about the difficulty of landing on Mars, which he ascribed to the fact that engineers do not take into account the centrifugal forces generated by the planet's rotation. He wrote: Newton failed to recognize, in his equation, that a falling body is also under the influence of 'centrifugal force' caused by the spinning of the Earth on its axis.

That statement is categorically wrong, since a body not in contact with a planet cannot possibly be affected by centrifugal forces.

Literary
Cotterell's woo-laden tree corpses are, sadly, best-sellers, published by Simon & Schuster. You can however read his book The Amazing Discoveries of Maurice Cotterell: Synopsis on his web site (as a series of images).

Criticism
Maurice Cotterell has been criticized by members of the academic community for making ridiculous pseudo scientific claims that are not backed-up by rigorous mathematical or empirical arguments.