From New York Times.
'The Fated Sky: Astrology in History,' by Benson Bobrick - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times
So when the playful and innovative historian Benson Bobrick writes in "The Fated Sky" that 30-40 percent of the American public believes in astrology, I am shocked. Why so few, given the raging apophenia among our scientific elite? Astrology, the belief that human lives are ruled by the stars and planets, is no nuttier than current cosmological models, which feature an "anthropic principle," giving our puny, three-pound brains a central role in the universe.
Why so few?
"What more pristine patterns are there," the Colgate University astronomer Anthony Aveni says, "than those found in heaven?" If cosmologists can unapologetically extrapolate from quarks to the cosmos, why not extrapolate from the planets to humans? The scale is much smaller.
I'm interested in whether there are some relationships between astrology and cosmologists. If so, there must be something complementing each other.
Law of God? Law of human? or Law of Universe?
More interestingly, It mentions a relationship with astrology and politicians in the history, such as Nero, Elizabeth, battles between the Roman Catholic Church and astrology, and keep saying that current politician, Charles de Gaulle, François Mitterrand and Boris Yeltsin all consulted astrologers. and read this.Ronald Reagan, Bobrick says, cleared major moves with astrologers, including his invasion of Grenada, his attack on Libya and his disarmament negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev.
And the topic goes to World War II, Churchill's astrological bluff against Hitler by publishing a phony German astrology magazine but it predicted accurate predictions.
But astrology can also be seen as early science, an attempt to understand nature. About ancient Mesopotamia, Aveni has written, "a careful observer can easily become aware . . . that the cycles of sun and moon are correlated with the seasons, the tides, the menstrual cycle. Then why not extend celestial destiny to encompass tides as a force of influence in the affairs of people?" Where does Bobrick stand? He writes, "Some astrologers were better than others." To be good at a technique implies that it works.
and of course, the basic of science are related to astrology
To New York Times.
'The Fated Sky: Astrology in History,' by Benson Bobrick - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times
Introduction process of fortune-telling contents
