Conclusion
The bible is a complex web of traditions and not a cohesive whole. In at least some cases it is possible to untangle the various threads and identify specific authors working with a specific agenda. The example of the Golden Calf story is one such thread that can be pulled out, and the evidence strongly suggests that the story was written by Levites, in particular Northern Levites, during the time of the divided Kingdoms. It is their version of events that has become 'official' so that through countless movies and story books everyone is familiar with 'the story of Exodus' and the Golden Calf, but few people are familiar with just how complex these traditions really are, or that there are really multiple versions of events, and this story of the Ten Commandments and Sinai is just one of many examples of the same sort of thing.
As for history in all this, there is certainly 'history' in the Bible, but it is the history of social divisions and political and religious feuds, and not at all the 'official' story of the Exodus, or anything else for that matter. Spot cannot both have four legs and three. Either he is missing a leg or he isn't. When presented with multiple visions and versions of events, the question of historicity arises. The Calf Idol version of the tablet story is polemical and intended as a response to Jeroboam's new calf idol religion, written by jobless and disgruntled northern Levites, who had been put out of a job by those two calves.
A Unified Field Theory
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The Unified Field Theory
is also available as a zip file -> unified.zip
Introduction :The Pioneer Effect and the New Physics. A brief description of the new physics required to explain the 'Pioneer Effect', which is the constant deceleration of space craft as they fly through space.

