When Chariots of the Gods was published 50 years ago, it began a worldwide change in humanity's view of the cosmos. In an era of the military space race, Erich von D niken boldly proclaimed that Earth had been visited by more advanced beings early in our history. But prescientific man had no concept of space ships, so he called their vehicles chariots, and those driving the chariots became gods. Over the next five decades, von D niken's...