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Author: Hans Jurgen Eysenck
Publisher: St Martins Press
Published: 1982-01-01
Total Pages: 243
ISBN-13: 9780312058067
DOWNLOAD EBOOKUses modern statistical methods to explain the mechanisms by which the planets might well have a significant influence on life on earth, proposing a new branch of science, cosmobiology
Author: Roy Willis
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-05-19
Total Pages: 176
ISBN-13: 1000183599
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMainstream science has long dismissed astrology as a form of primitive superstition, despite or perhaps even because of its huge popular interest. From daily horoscopes to in-depth and personalized star forecasts, astrology, for many, plays a crucial role in the organization of everyday life. Present-day scholars and scientists remain baffled as to why this pseudo-science exercises such control over supposedly modern, rational and enlightened individuals, yet so far they have failed to produce any meaningful analysis of why it impacts on so many lives and what lies behind its popular appeal. Moving beyond scientific scepticism, Astrology, Science and Culture finally fills the gap by probing deeply into the meaning and importance of this extraordinary belief system. From the dawn of pre-history, humankind has had an intimate connection with the stars. With its roots in the Neolithic culture of Europe and the Middle East, astrology was traditionally heralded as a divinatory language. Willis and Curry argue that, contrary to contemporary understanding including that of most astrologers astrology was originally, and remains, a divinatory practice. Tackling its rich and controversial history, its problematic relationship to Jungian theory, and attempts to prove its grounding in objective reality, this book not only persuasively demonstrates that astrology is far more than a superstitious relic of years gone by, but that it enables a fundamental critique of the scientism of its opponents. Groundbreaking in its reconciliation of astrologys ancient traditions and its modern day usage, this book impressively unites philosophy, science, anthropology, and history, to produce a powerful exploration of astrology, past and present.
Author: Richard Tarnas
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 604
ISBN-13: 9780670032921
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSeeks to demonstrate the existence of a direct connection between the planetary movements and human history, and examines such ancient and modern events as the French Revolution and September 11th.
Author: Sophie Chiari
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 2017-11-22
Total Pages: 333
ISBN-13: 1474427847
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow can multicultural governance respond to our increasingly complex migratory world?
Author: Derek Wilson
Publisher: Robinson
Published: 2019-06-06
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781472142580
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBetween the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, Europe changed out of all recognition and particularly transformative were the ardent quest for knowledge and the astounding discoveries and inventions which resulted from it. The movement of blood round the body; the movement of the earth round the sun; the velocity of falling objects (and, indeed, why objects fall) - these and numerous other mysteries had been solved by scholars in earnest pursuit of scientia.
Author: Alexander Boxer
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2020-01-14
Total Pages: 336
ISBN-13: 039363485X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn illuminating look at the surprising history and science of astrology, civilization’s first system of algorithms, from Babylon to the present day. Humans are pattern-matching creatures, and astrology is the universe’s grandest pattern-matching game. In this refreshing work of history and analysis, data scientist Alexander Boxer examines classical texts on astrology to expose its underlying scientific and mathematical framework. Astrology, he argues, was the ancient world’s most ambitious applied mathematics problem, a monumental data-analysis enterprise sustained by some of history’s most brilliant minds, from Ptolemy to al-Kindi to Kepler. Thousands of years ago, astrologers became the first to stumble upon the powerful storytelling possibilities inherent in numerical data. To correlate the configurations of the cosmos with our day-to-day lives, astrologers relied upon a “scheme of heaven,” or horoscope, showing the precise configuration of the planets at a particular instant in time as viewed from a particular place on Earth. Although recognized as pseudoscience today, horoscopes were once considered a cutting-edge scientific tool. Boxer teaches us how to read these esoteric charts—and appreciate the complex astronomical calculations needed to generate them—by diagramming how the heavens appeared at important moments in astrology’s history, from the assassination of Julius Caesar as viewed from Rome to the Apollo 11 lunar landing as seen from the surface of the Moon. He then puts these horoscopes to the test using modern data sets and statistical science, arguing that today’s data scientists do work similar to astrologers of yore. By looking back at the algorithms of ancient astrology, he suggests, we can better recognize the patterns that are timeless characteristics of our own pattern-matching tendencies. At once critical, rigorous, and far ranging, A Scheme of Heaven recontextualizes astrology as a vast, technological project—spanning continents and centuries—that foreshadowed our data-driven world today.
Author: Stuart Vyse
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2020-01-23
Total Pages: 152
ISBN-13: 0192551310
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDo you touch wood for luck, or avoid hotel rooms on floor thirteen? Would you cross the path of a black cat, or step under a ladder? Is breaking a mirror just an expensive waste of glass, or something rather more sinister? Despite the dominance of science in today's world, superstitious beliefs - both traditional and new - remain surprisingly popular. A recent survey of adults in the United States found that 33 percent believed that finding a penny was good luck, and 23 percent believed that the number seven was lucky. Where did these superstitions come from, and why do they persist today? This Very Short Introduction explores the nature and surprising history of superstition from antiquity to the present. For two millennia, superstition was a label derisively applied to foreign religions and unacceptable religious practices, and its primary purpose was used to separate groups and assert religious and social authority. After the Enlightenment, the superstition label was still used to define groups, but the new dividing line was between reason and unreason. Today, despite our apparent sophistication and technological advances, superstitious belief and behaviour remain widespread, and highly educated people are not immune. Stuart Vyse takes an exciting look at the varieties of popular superstitious beliefs today and the psychological reasons behind their continued existence, as well as the likely future course of superstition in our increasingly connected world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Author: Nicholas Campion
Publisher: Granta Books
Published: 2014-11-06
Total Pages: 132
ISBN-13: 1783781718
DOWNLOAD EBOOK'And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years."' Genesis 1: 14 Astrology, the notion that the stars and planets hold significance for human life, exists in most cultures. It is evident in Stone Age lunar calendars dating back to 30,000 BCE. Today, 90 per cent of Indians consult astrologers about their forthcoming marriages while over 50 per cent of people in the West read their horoscopes in newspapers or magazines. How has this pre-Christian, pre-scientific view of the cosmos survived to the present day and what is its enduring appeal? Astrology's techniques and philosophical foundations are complex and there is no single tradition. Astrology may be seen as science, art, religion, craft or superstition. For most adherents it is either a path to self-understanding or an organizing principle that helps give purpose to an otherwise meaningless world. Nicholas Campion explores astrology's past and present, its claims and appeal, and explains what astrologers really believe.
Author: John Chynoweth Burnham
Publisher:
Published: 1987
Total Pages: 390
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKJohn Burnham studies the history of changing patterns in the dissemination, or "popularization," of scientific findings to the general public since 1830. Focusing on three different areas of science -- health, psychology, and the natural sciences -- Burnham explores the ways in which this process of popularization has deteriorated. He draws on evidence ranging from early lyceum lecturers to the new math and argues that today popular science is the functional equivalent of superstition.
Author: Derek K Wilson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2018-02-06
Total Pages: 234
ISBN-13: 1681777061
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSpanning some of the most vibrant and fascinating eras in European history, Cambridge historian Derek Wilson reveals a society filled with an ardent desire for knowledge and astounding discoveries—and the fantastic discoveries that flowered from it. Thinkers were drew from surprising intellectual traditions: some from folk religion, which in its turn had deep roots in a pagan past; others referred to spirits or tapped into stores of ancient wisdom and herbal remedies. This was the world of wise women, witches, necromancers, potions and incantations. Even the mighty Catholic Church, which permeated all elements of life, had its own "magical" traditions.In 1663, the Royal Society in London received its charter. Just three years later, the French Academy of Sciences was founded, and other European capitals rapidly followed suit. In 1725, the word "science" was at last defined as "a branch of study concerned either with a connected body of demonstrated truths or with observed facts systematically classified." Yet just nine years before, the last witch had been executed in Britain. Fascinating and thought-provoking, A Magical World is a reminder of humanity's paradoxical nature—our passionate pursuit of knowledge alongside deep-rooted fears, superstitions, and traditions.
