Rimmer tried to use science to prove the veracity of the Bible. One of the sources he relied on was a speculative book by "Joshua's Long Day and the Dial of Ahaz" published by Charles Totten, an instructor in Military Science at Yale. In 1890. Rimmer claimed that the Bible story in which Joshua ordered the sun to stand still in the heavens had been definitely proved by a Yale Professor (Totten). An updated version of this claim has it that some NASA scientists discovered a missing period of 24 hours. He also promoted a version of the urban legend of James Bartley and a sperm whale, which he used to uphold a literal interpretation of Jonah.