Star-crossed Science

2/18/07 – 2/24/07
by C. Zaitz

I recently had a conversation with high school students about astrology. Astronomy and astrology have been around for thousands of years, but the science of astronomy only broke with the art of astrology a few hundred years ago. Astronomia was the old word for the scholars who undertook the duties of observing and predicting sky motions, interpreting them and applying them to earthly events. In fact, the observatories and salaries needed for observing and predicting (astronomy) were often paid for by the profits made by interpreting and applying (astrology).

Most of the great astronomers we can think of were also astrologers. There was no shame in casting horoscopes. In fact, it was quite a lucrative business for some. Johannes Kepler, known to scientists for his three Laws of Planetary Motion, was a prolific astrologer while he wasn’t trying to figure out the nature of things. When his paycheck didn’t arrive from his day job as a mathematician and astronomer, as it often didn’t, he resorted to casting natal charts and predicting events to feed his family. Kepler sometimes balked at mundane astrological duties, thinking that most common folk were too superstitious and ignorant to understand the true beauty of astrology. To him it was art married to science, it was real, and it meant something. It was a taste of the divine. Galileo, a contemporary of Kepler and famous for first gazing at the heavens through the newly developed telescope, also shared Kepler’s use of astrology. In fact, though some use Galileo as an example of one of the first scientists divorced from superstition, it’s much more likely that Galileo, like his contemporaries, viewed astrology as an aspect of religion and world view, where what happens above happens below, and that the heavens are reflected on earth. He cast horoscopes and charts like his contemporaries, when he wasn’t spying on the rings of Saturn or the moons of Jupiter.

The idea that earth is a reflection of the machinations of heaven is a beautiful thought, so it’s no wonder the notion has been around so long. But it began to lose favor in the mid 18th century. Why did astrology and astronomy split up? Perhaps because science and scientific methods became so important by making life better and for improving technology that people no longer wanted to rely on an “unscientific” form of prediction. Astrology became known as an occult or superstitious science, and the Age of Reason did not leave room for superstition. However, it didn’t go away completely, it just moved to the realm of divination.

Does that leave astrology without a foot hold in modern society? Many of us read our horoscopes in the newspaper for amusement, and some of us take it a bit more seriously. When I questioned the students about astrology, the vocal ones indicated that they thought it was somewhat silly. But the silent ones may have had different feelings that they were embarrassed to express in a science class. Nowadays it’s considered almost ignorant to believe in astrology. Yet, I don’t think humans will ever stop trying to make connections between what happens “below” and what might be happening “above.” And what better way than to watch the beautiful stars and planets? I almost admire people who find connections between the planets and their lives. I have never been able to, but wouldn’t it be fun to think that everything could be explained by looking at the stars?

Until next week, my friends, enjoy the view.