Category Archives: Astrology

Reformation, revolutions and social media

Posted on December 28, 2011 by

Can one draw parallels between the use of the printing press during the Reformation and the use of the Internet during the Arab Spring? What role did cheap astrological pamphlets play in the Astronomical Revolution? For some thoughts on these … Continue reading →

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An auspicious day to found an observatory

Posted on August 10, 2011 by

The Royal Observatory has several possible birthdays. I have, for example, seen it given as 4 March or 22 June 1675. The first is the date of Charles II’s Royal Warrant that ordered the Board of Ordnance to pay for … Continue reading →

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Mythologizing John Dee

Posted on July 4, 2011 by

A short rant about the abuse of the history of science in theatre advertising and science journalism relating to Doctor Dee

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The astronomical revolution didn’t start here!

Posted on May 30, 2011 by

In the usual collection of myths that passes for history of science in our culture the astronomical revolution (and the so-called scientific revolution for that matter) is considered to have started with the publication of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus in Nürnberg … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, astronomy, Early Scientific Printing, History, mathematics | 1 Comment

Not a birthday boy: some thoughts on Renaissance birth dates

Posted on May 2, 2011 by

Yesterday, one of the websites that I read on a regular basis informed me that the notorious Renaissance physician Theophrastus of Hohenheim, better known as Paracelsus, was born on 1st May 1493 a claim that I found interesting…. To find … Continue reading →

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When did what end?

Posted on February 27, 2011 by

One of the advantages of this blog is that many of those who comment here are more intelligent, better read, better informed and better educated than the blog author, this means that in their comments they question, provoke and suggest … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, astronomy, Chemistry, History | Leave a comment

The rise and fall of astrology

Posted on February 15, 2011 by

The status of astrology in Europe, as we understand it today, and its respectability as an academic discipline has gone up and down like a roller coaster over the centuries since it emerged in ancient Greece in the 5th century … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, History | 1 Comment

The astrology wars and abandoned scientific research programmes

Posted on February 1, 2011 by

My two pence worth…

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Astrology (again) and skepticism

Posted on January 28, 2011 by

I have another post on the topic of “Astrology is rubbish, but…” thas has just appeared as a guest post on Martin Robbins’ The Lay Scientist. Very many thanks to Martin for agreeing to host, and offering his readers a different view … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, History | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

“Astrology is rubbish”, but…

Posted on January 23, 2011 by

Over the past week or two I’ve seen a steady trickle of tweets from astronomers, science writers and journalists having a good laugh about astrology. Fair enough, perhaps, except that this all began with a story on NBC News (and … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, History, Science | 82 Comments