 This hypothesis was subsequently popularized by Minnesota congressman and pseudoarchaeology writer Ignatius L. Donnelly in his book "" (1883), which followed his better-known book "" (1882).In "Ragnarok", Donnelly argued that an enormous comet struck the Earth approximately 12,000 years ago, destroying an advanced civilization on the "lost continent" of Atlantis.Donnelly, following Halley and Whiston, attributed the Biblical Flood to this event, which he hypothesized had also resulted in catastrophic fires and significant climate change.