WorldWideScience

Sample records for astrology

  1. Astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, S

    1988-04-15

    As a divinatory practice, astrology is without equal in both its colorful history and modern day popularity. Astrology has grown, over thousands of years, into a huge and ornate superstructure that lacks a central design. Although astrology has been dimly veiled by its occult mystique for centuries, the light of modern day inquiry has shown its substance to be mostly illusionary and revealed its foundation to be the shakiest possible: that of self-justification and anecdotal evidence. Despite the many claims of its practitioners and followers, extensive investigation has revealed astrology to be a great teetering monument to human gullibility.

  2. Late Babylonian Astrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, John M.

    The last five centuries BC saw the development of several new forms of astrology in Babylonia. Key to these new astrological techniques was the invention of the zodiac in about 400 BC. These new forms of astrology include personal horoscopes, astral medicine, and the exploitation of geometrical relationships between the position of heavenly bodies. Several Late Babylonian astrological doctrines were later adopted within Greek astrology.

  3. Astronomy and astrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarka, Philippe

    2011-06-01

    Astrology meets a large success in our societies, from the private to the political sphere as well as in the media, in spite of the demonstrated inaccuracy of its psychological as well as operational predictions. We analyse here the relations between astrology and astronomy, as well as the criticisms opposed by the latter to the former. We show that most of these criticisms are weak. Much stronger ones emerge from the analysis of the astrological practice compared to the scientific method, leading us to conclude to the non-scientificity of astrology. Then we return to the success of astrology, and from its analysis we propose a renewed (and prophylactic) rôle for astronomy in society.

  4. Kepler-Astronomer in Astrology and Astrologer in Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fempl-Madjarevic, Jasna

    The author is discussing a very complicated subject: the astrological aspects in the scientific activity of Johannes Kepler. Sometimes Kepler is considered the last astronomer which confused astrology with astronomy. In fact he composed horoscopes, but he was conscious finally that the astrology was a confusion. The author is discussing also the mistic aspects of the scientifc creation by Kepler. Particularly she emphasized that the "Mysterium Cosmographicum" is one of such works. Meanwhile, that work led to discovery of famous third laws of planets motion.

  5. Astrology for Physics Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steckline, Vincent S.

    1975-01-01

    Presents a brief history of astrology and its relation to astronomy. Describes the different types of astrologers, horoscope casting, and horoscope interpretation. Presents reasons for the author's disbelief in astrology. (GS)

  6. Astronomy, Astrology, and Medicine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenbaum, Dorian Gieseler

    Astronomy and astrology were combined with medicine for thousands of years. Beginning in Mesopotamia in the second millennium BCE and continuing into the eighteenth century, medical practitioners used astronomy/astrology as an important part of diagnosis and prescription. Throughout this time frame, scientists cited the similarities between medicine and astrology, in addition to combining the two in practice. Hippocrates and Galen based medical theories on the relationship between heavenly bodies and human bodies. In an enduring cultural phenomenon, parts of the body as well as diseases were linked to zodiac signs and planets. In Renaissance universities, astronomy and astrology were studied by students of medicine. History records a long tradition of astrologer-physicians. This chapter covers the topic of astronomy, astrology, and medicine from the Old Babylonian period to the Enlightenment.

  7. Observational Astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayer, Ben

    1987-01-01

    Discusses the use of astrological signs as a vehicle for getting students interested in astronomy. Describes the construction and use of simple stellaphane starframes that can be used to locate astrological constellations. Provides instructions for photographing constellations with a 35 millimeter camera. (TW)

  8. Galen and astrology: a Mésalliance?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Glen M

    2011-01-01

    The author examines the question of Galen's affinity with astrology, in view of Galen's extended astrological discussion in the De diebus decretoriis (Critical Days). The critical passages from Galen are examined, and shown to be superficial in understanding. The author performs a lexical sounding of Galen's corpus, using key terms with astrological valences drawn from the Critical Days, and assesses their absence in Galen's other works. He compares Galen's astrology with the astrology of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, and evaluates their respective strategies of scientific reasoning. Three types of inference are introduced and applied to Galen's astrology. Finally, he concludes that the empirical side of Galen's science does not depend upon astrological methods or concepts, but that these were introduced for their rhetorical effect in presenting his new medical methodology. It is suggested that continued attention to Galen's astrology has obscured the truly important empirical scientific method that Galen developed.

  9. Greco-Roman Astrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Roger

    Astrology was entrenched in the culture of the Roman Empire. The system and its influence is described as well as its relationship to mathematical astronomy at the time. The material remains are of two sorts: papyrus horoscopes and coins with astrological motifs.

  10. Astrology and Astronomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA.

    One of a series of information packets, the document provides clear, specific information about the controversial subject of astrology. The packet includes six articles explaining the dozens of careful scientific tests which have concluded that there is no scientific evidence supporting astrology. The packet includes an interview with astronomer…

  11. Medical astrology in Spain during the seventeenth century.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanuza Navarro, Tayra M C

    2006-01-01

    It is well known that astrological practice during the Early Modern period was closely related to medicine, and that it provided a tool for diagnosis and treatments. An interesting aspect of this relationship of medicine and astrology is the recognition of the prevailing ideas about medical astrology in the astrological works and astrological-medical treatises. This article discusses the ideas of Galenism and the astrological doctrines that established such a strong relationship between astrology and medicine. There is an overview of the Spanish authors who wrote about the subject, especially those linked with the universities. The paper then goes into detail about the examples of these ideas found in the Spanish printed texts of the seventeenth century. Finally, there is a section on some very interesting and little known treatises on medical astrology which were a reference for the practice of astrological medicine in the period.

  12. The Scientific Case against Astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Ivan

    1980-01-01

    Discussed is the lack of a scientific foundation and scientific evidence favoring astrology. Included are several research studies conducted to examine astrological tenets which yield generally negative results. (Author/DS)

  13. Contribution of astrology in medicine -- a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Bhuvnesh Kumar; Prasad, P V V; Narayana, A

    2007-01-01

    Astrology is the art of predicting or determining the influence of the planets and stars on human affairs. The origin of this word is from Greek word astron, star + logos (discourse). Both Ayurveda and Astrology have established a way of life in India since time immemorial. Highly advanced knowledge related to Astrology on medicine is preserved in Indian Holy scriptures and transmitted from generation to generation. Although both Astrology and medicine were developed as a part of religion in ancient India, astrological principles related to prevention, health care and relief from illness were applied as rituals (religious ceremonies). An astrologer gives guidance for taking medicines at suitable time for the best remedy of ailments. Even the medicinal herbs were collected and used at appropriate times for their efficacy. Astrology and Ayurveda are inseparable in human life. Role of the Astrology in healthy life and pathogenesis of the disease is well known to Indians. When a physician knows etiology of the disease, he attempts to treat the disease with specific medication, diet and life style and also avoiding causative factors. In a case where a physician is unable to understand the pathogenesis of the disease and to treat, the patient depends upon Astrology. Account of good and bad deeds during this life and previous lives, their consequences of health or ill health during this life which orderly, when, what and how will be clearly known through Astrology. It gives guidelines about welfare not only to human being but also to whole creation and also indicates about calamities and their solutions as possible extent. Hence a concise astrological evaluation related to prevention, health care, diagnosis and treatment of diseases is being presented in this article.

  14. Astrology as Cultural Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campion, Nicholas

    The practice of astrology can be traced in most if not all human societies, in most time periods. Astrology has prehistoric origins and flourishes in the modern world, where it may be understood as a form of ethnoastronomy - astronomy practiced by the people. The Western tradition, which originated in Mesopotamia and was developed in the Greek world, has been most studied by academics. However, India is also home to a tradition which has survived in a continuous lineage for 2,000 years. Complex systems of astrology also developed in China and Mesoamerica, while all other human societies appear to seek social and religious meaning in the stars.

  15. Astrology in seventeenth-century Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brosseder, Claudia

    2010-06-01

    This article discusses three aspects of the history of astrology in seventeenth-century Peru that are of larger interest for the history of science in Latin America: Creole concerns about indigenous idolatry, the impact of the Inquisition on natural philosophy, and communication between scholars within the Spanish colonies and the transatlantic world. Drawing mainly on the scholars Antonio de la Calancha, Juan de Figueroa, and Ruiz de Lozano, along with several Jesuits, the article analyzes how natural and medical astrology took shape in Peru and how they fostered astronomical investigations of the southern skies. While natural and medical astrology, showing New and Old World influences, oscillated between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, and between scholasticism and new science, judicial astrology remained undeveloped. Toward the end of the seventeenth century the discourse about astrology took an unexpected turn, reflecting a newly invigorated moral and Christian reading of the heavens that was in part a response to a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the failure of the extirpation of idolatry campaigns. Inscribing divine and cardinal virtues, the Virgin Mary, Christian saints, and Greco-Roman allegories into the heavens was considered a way to finally solve the problem of idolatry and to convey Creole greatness.

  16. Astrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pingree, D.; Murdin, P.

    2000-11-01

    Astrology is the theory that the planets, the Sun and the Moon, as well as the 12 `zodiacal signs', combine in various, ever-changing configurations with respect to each other and the local horizon to influence `sublunar' events....

  17. The Celestial Vault: The Magic of Astrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGaha, J.

    2004-11-01

    Astrology is a "Geocentric System" that supports the "Astrological Principle". This principle, that human beings and their actions are influenced by the positions of celestial objects, is not objectively supported. The "planetary gods" found in the heavens provided order to help explain the chaotic events in life on earth. Is this why many people think their horoscopes are correct, with the "stars" taking credit? Do "celestial movements" foretell the future? What is the evidence for Astrology? The historical, psychological and physical foundations of astrology will be discussed.

  18. [Medicine and astrology in Arnau's corpus].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giralt, Sebastià

    2006-01-01

    The role of astrology in Arnau de Vilanova's medical work is revisited with special attention to the problems of authorship posed by the astrological writings of Arnau's corpus and to their hypothetical chronology.

  19. Astrology Pseudoscience and a Discussion About Its Threats to Society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tevfik UYAR

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Astrology, a pseudoscience, is highly popular in Turkey. Astrologers, who are its practitioners, produce discourses in the scientific field at the media and at their own platforms. Furthermore, it is possible to find some instances of astrology related activities in Turkish universities. In this article, demarcation of science from pseudoscience and the pseudoscientific status of astrology were discussed in a first place. Next, threats of astrological discourse within economic, educational and medical fields and their threats to society were expressed with some examples. Instances of the astrological activities within higher education institutions, such as an astrology-based master degree thesis, the astrology certificate programs, and an astrology column in an official medical school magazine were evaluated, and it was put forward that they contributed to increase the level of threat and it was also claimed that the existence of astrological activities in the universities contradicts the main purpose and principles of the higher education. In conclusion, some regulatory actions like the implementation of the scientific literacy and demarcation problem to each level of educational curriculum, a general policy for excluding the pseudoscience from higher education institutions and a recommended health warning at the top of the astrology were suggested.

  20. Astrology in court: The Spanish Inquisition, authority, and expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanuza-Navarro, Tayra M C

    2017-06-01

    Astrology, its legitimacy, and the limits of its acceptable practice were debated in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe. Many of the related arguments were mediated by the work of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and the responses to it. Acknowledging the complexities of the relationship between astrological ideas and Christian teachings, this paper focuses on the Catholic debates by specifically considering the decisions about astrology taken by the Spanish Inquisition. The trials of astrologers are examined with the aim of understanding the role of experts in astrology in early modern Spain. This study brings into view the specific nature of the debate on astrology in Spain, the consequences of the actions of the Inquisition and the social control it exerted. The historical events discussed comprise a particular case and also mirror the general debates about astrology taking place in early modern Europe. The experts' opinions expressed in trials and in reports about the discipline received by the Inquisition reveal two key traits of the debate: the dispute about who had the authority to decide on the legitimacy of astrology and the disagreement about what constituted natural and judicial astrological practices. These led to different opinions about what was to be done with each defendant and about what content in their books ought to be forbidden.

  1. Astrology Beliefs among Undergraduate Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugarman, Hannah; Impey, Chris; Buxner, Sanlyn; Antonellis, Jessie

    2011-01-01

    A survey of the science knowledge and attitudes toward science of nearly 10000 undergraduates at a large public university over a 20-year period included several questions addressing student beliefs in astrology and other forms of pseudoscience. The results from our data reveal that a large majority of students (78%) considered astrology "very" or…

  2. Belief in astrology inventory: development and validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chico, Eliseo; Lorenzo-Seva, Urbano

    2006-12-01

    After the paper by Mayo, White, and Eysenck in 1978, a considerable number of papers studied the so-called sun-sign-effect predicted by astrology: people born with the sun in a positive sign are supposed to be extraverted, and those with the sun in a negative sign are supposed to be introverted. In these papers, researchers used ad hoc questionnaires with a few questions related to belief, knowledge, experience, or attitude toward astrology. However, an appropriate inventory with known psychometric properties has yet to be developed to assess the belief in astrology. In the present paper, the Belief in Astrology Inventory is presented with some psychometric data. The participants were 743 undergraduates studying Psychology and Social Sciences at a university in Spain. Correlation of scores on Belief in Astrology and Extraversion was small but significant (r = .22; r2 = .04) for positive sun-sign participants. This value accounts for negligible common variance. Women had significandy higher scores on the inventory than men.

  3. Astrology Pseudoscience and a Discussion About Its Threats to Society

    OpenAIRE

    Tevfik UYAR

    2016-01-01

    Astrology, a pseudoscience, is highly popular in Turkey. Astrologers, who are its practitioners, produce discourses in the scientific field at the media and at their own platforms. Furthermore, it is possible to find some instances of astrology related activities in Turkish universities. In this article, demarcation of science from pseudoscience and the pseudoscientific status of astrology were discussed in a first place. Next, threats of astrological discourse within economic, educational an...

  4. Health promotion, preventive and curative aspects of diseases in astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Bhuvnesh Kumar; Subhakta, P K J P; Narayana, A

    2007-01-01

    The whole universe is intermingling into a unit in the period of globalization. Different cultures, life-styles and sciences are co-operating with each other in this situation. World Health Organization is working towards collaborating all prevalent medical sciences for attainment of good health and family welfare for each and every individual by 2020. Astrology is a part of Indian heritage. Astrology means the art of predicting or determining the influence of the planets and stars on human affairs. The origin of this word is from Greek word astron, star + logos (discourse). The account of deeds of good and bad during the present life and previous lives, their consequences of health or ill health during this life i.e. what, when and how the things takes place will be clearly known through Astrology. Highly advanced knowledge related to Astrology on medicine is preserved in Indian scriptures and the knowledge was transmitted from generation to generation. It is also a good source for health promotion, preventive, curative and other medical aspects. Brief direction related to astrological medical aspects is also available in Ayurvedic literature (Carakasamhită, Suśrutasamhhită, Aşţăngasangraha, Aşţăngahŗdaya, Sărngadharasamhită , Băvaprakăśa etc.) Some Ayurvedic practitioners, scholars and scientists realize the need of astrological knowledge related to medicine in the present time. In ancient times physician, astrologer and purŏhita (Hindu priest) simultaneously looked after the health and family welfare of individual, families and country. Astrologer guides medication and suitable time for the better cure of ailments. Even the medicinal herbs were collected and treated at appropriate time for their efficacy. Astrology and Ayurvĕda are inseparable sciences of life. Hence, in this article, a concise astrological evaluation related to health promotion, preventive and curative aspects of Astrology is being presented.

  5. Astrology: Science, Art or Prophesy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeghiazaryan, Anahit

    2016-12-01

    The subject in question is the link between humanity's two earliest disciplines - astronomy and astrology. Is it realistic to assume that the arrangement of celestial bodies, planets and stars can provide an opportunity to unequivocally predetermine the faith of the flora and fauna, of single individuals or entire nations living on planet Earth of the Solar System in the entirety of the Universe? Is it possible to ascertain whether astrology is science, art or prophesy?

  6. Astrology in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campion, Nicholas

    2018-04-01

    This article deals with astrology in Greek and Roman culture. It considers astrology's theoretical background, technical basis, interpretative conventions, social functions, religious and political uses, and theory of fate, as well as critiques of it. Astrology is the name given to a series of diverse practices based in the idea that the stars, planets, and other celestial phenomena possess significance and meaning for events on Earth. It assumes a link between Earth and sky in which all existence—spiritual, psychological, and physical—is interconnected. Most premodern cultures practiced a form of astrology. A particularly complex variety of it evolved in Mesopotamia in the first and second millennia BCE from where it was imported into the Hellenistic world from the early 4th century BCE onward. There it became attached to three philosophical schools: those pioneered by Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics, all of which shared the assumption that the cosmos is a single, living, integrated whole. Hellenistic astrology also drew on Egyptian temple culture, especially the belief that the soul could ascend to the stars. By the 1st century CE the belief in the close link between humanity and the stars had become democratized and diversified into a series of practices and schools of thought that ranged across Greek and Roman culture. It was practiced at the imperial court and in the street. It could be used to predict individual destiny, avert undesirable events, and arrange auspicious moments to launch new enterprises. It could advise on financial fortunes or the condition of one's soul. It was conceived of as natural science and justified by physical influences, or considered to be divination, concerned with communication with the gods and goddesses. In some versions the planets were neither influences nor causes of events on Earth, but timing devices, which indicated the ebb and flow of human affairs, like the hands on a modern clock. Astrology had a radical view of

  7. Teste Albumasare cum Sibylla: astrology and the Sibyls in medieval Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smoller, Laura Ackerman

    2010-06-01

    In the 1480s Dominican humanist Filippo de' Barbieri published an illustration of a supposedly ancient female seer called the 'Sybilla Chimica', whose prophetic text repeated the words of the ninth-century astrologer Abu Ma'shar. In tracing the origins of Barbieri's astrological Sibyl, this article examines three sometimes interlocking traditions: the attribution of an ante-diluvian history to the science of the stars, the assertion of astrology's origins in divine revelation, and the belief in the ancient Sibyls' predictions of the birth of Christ and other Christian truths. Medieval authors from the twelfth century on began to cite these traditions together, thereby simultaneously authorizing the use of astrology to predict religious changes and blurring the categories of natural and supernatural as applied to human understanding. This blending of astrology and prophecy appears notably in works by such authors as John of Paris, John of Legnano, Johannes Lichtenberger, and Marsilio Ficino. Ultimately the trajectory that produced Barbieri's astrological Sibyl would lead to a wave of astrological apocalyptic predictions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as to the harnessing of astrology for the defense of the faith in the form of an astrological natural theology, sacralizing science as well as nature.

  8. Defining Astrology in Ancient and Classical History

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campion, Nicholas

    2015-05-01

    Astrology in the ancient and classical worlds can be partly defined by its role, and partly by the way in which scholars spoke about it. The problem is complicated by the fact that the word is Greek - it has no Babylonian or Egyptian cognates - and even in Greece it was interchangeable with its cousin, 'astronomy'. Yet if we are to understand the role of the sky, stars and planets in culture, debates about the nature of ancient astrology, by both classical and modern scholars, must be taken into account. This talk will consider modern scholars' typologies of ancient astrology, together with ancient debates from Cicero in the 1st century BC, to Plotinus (204/5-270 AD) and Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 4 April 636). It will consider the implications for our understanding of astronomy's role in culture, and conclude that in the classical period astrology may be best understood through its diversity and allegiance to competing philosophies, and that its functions were therefore similarly varied.

  9. Iatromathematica (medical astrology) in late antiquity and the Byzantine period.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papathanassiou, M

    1999-01-01

    Byzantium inherited the rich astrological tradition of Late Antiquity, especially that of Alexandria, where even in the 6th century A.D., astrology was taught in philosophical schools. The great number of Byzantine astrological MSS, which preserve works of famous authors and many anonymous treatises, shows the survival and continuity of astrology in Byzantium. Through medical astrology physicians can better understand the temperament of an individual man and find out about his bodily constitution and psychic faculties, his inclination to chronic and acute diseases, the possibilities of curable or incurable cases, and finally the periods of major danger for his health. They can conjecture about the evolution of a disease, choose a favorable time for an operation, or initiate a cure.

  10. [John Flamsteed's horoscope for laying the groundwork of Greenwich astronomy and astrology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oestmann, Günther

    2002-01-01

    The paper deals with the astronomical and astrological contents of a horoscope cast by John Flamsteed in 1675 for the foundation of Greenwich Observatory. So far no analysis of its astronomical contents has been made. It can be shown that the chart has been drawn correctly, as is to be expected from a competent astronomer. For calculating the planetary positions he most likely used tables issued by Johann Hecker, a pupil of Hevelius, based on Kepler's "Tabulae Rudolphinae" in 1627. The cusps of the twelve astrological houses Flamsteed calculated trigonometrically; so he used no table of houses. Flamsteed employed a method of house division (domification) which was commonly used in the 16th and 17th century and connected with the name of Johannes Regiomontanus. Positional circles joining in the north and south points of the observer's horizon are laid through distances of 30 degrees on the celestial equator, thus giving unequal sections of the ecliptic. By consulting contemporary sources for the interpretation of the chart (Ramesey's Astrologia Restaurata, 1653) it appears that the time for laying the foundation stone was well chosen from the astrological point of view. There were precursors in this practice, e.g. the Italian astrologer Luca Gaurico, who was commissioned to submit an astrological report for the foundation for the Franse Wing in the Vatican in 1543, and Tycho Brahe, who performed a solemn ceremony on the island of Hven in 1576 at the laying of the foundation stone of his observatory in an astrologically propitious moment. This leads to the question whether Flamsteed believed in astrology. Michael Hunter has already given evidence that Flamsteed was indeed well-versed with astrological techniques and supplied astrologers with data. But at the same time he expressed hostility towards astrological interpretations issued frequently by different parties during Civil War in England. In an unpublished preface for Hecker's Tables (edited by Hunter) Flamsteed

  11. Nephrology and astrology--is there a link?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, S

    1990-07-01

    Astrologers presume a link between the susceptibility of particular organs to disease and signs of the Zodiac. A simple test of the positive connection between renal disease and the sign of Libra was undertaken by studying the birth dates of consecutive nephrology in-patient admissions. No significant link was found on analysis, thus disproving the traditional astrologers' claims.

  12. Astrology and other occult sciences in seventeenth-century New Spain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avalos, Ana

    2006-01-01

    This article focuses on the relationship and mutual influence of astrology and other so-called occult sciences within the context of seventeenth-century New Spain. By presenting some case studies of inquisitorial trials against astrologers, it explores the interrelation between astrological and physiognomical ideas and practices in order to shed some light on the moral dimension of these natural philosophical fields of knowledge. During the early modern period, both astrology and physiognomy were regarded as tools for self-understanding and the understanding of others by means of interpretation of natural signs. Thus their history is key for understanding the shaping of the boundaries between the natural and the moral realms.

  13. Astrology and medicine in antiquity and the middle ages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francois P. Retief

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Astrology is a pseudo-science based on the assumption that the well-being of humankind, and its health in particular, is influenced in a constant and predictable fashion by the stars and other stellar bodies. Its origins can probably be traced back to Mesopotamia of the 3rd millennium BC and was particularly popular in Graeco-Roman times and the Medieval Era. Astrology in Western countries has always differed from that in the Far East, and while it largely lost its popularity in the West after the Renaissance, it still remains of considerable significance in countries like China and Tibet. Astrology took on a prominent medical component in the Old Babylonian Era (1900-1600 BC when diseases were first attributed to stellar bodies and associated gods. In the Neo-Babylonian Era (6th century BC the zodiac came into being: an imaginary belt across the skies (approximately 16o wide which included the pathways of the sun, moon and planets, as perceived from earth. The zodiac belt was divided into 12 equal parts (“houses” or signs, 6 above the horizon and 6 below. The signs became associated with specific months, illnesses and body parts – later with a number of other objects like planets, minerals (e.g. stones and elements of haruspiction (soothsaying, mantic, gyromancy. In this way the stellar objects moving through a zodiac “house” became associated with a multitude of happenings on earth, including illness. The macrocosm of the universe became part of the human microcosm, and by studying the stars, planets, moon, etcetera the healer could learn about the incidence, cause, progress and treatment of disease. He could even predict the sex and physiognomy of unborn children. The art of astrology and calculations involved became very complex. The horoscope introduced by the 3rd century BC (probably with Greek input produced a measure of standardisation: a person’s position within the zodiac would be determined by the date of birth, or

  14. Hiding in plain sight: Jung, astrology, and the psychology of the unconscious.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buck, Stephanie

    2018-04-01

    Astrology was a lifelong interest for C.G. Jung and an important aid in his formulation of psyche and psychic process. Archetypally configured, astrology provided Jung an objective means to a fuller understanding of the analysand's true nature and unique individuation journey. Jung credits astrology with helping to unlock the mystery of alchemy and in so doing providing the symbol language necessary for deciphering the historically remote cosmology of Gnosticism. Astrology also aided Jung's work on synchronicity. Despite astrology's worth to Jung's development of analytical psychology, its fundamental role in guiding his discoveries is all but absent from historical notice. The astrological natal chart seems rarely used clinically, and many clinicians seem unaware of its value as a dynamic diagram of the personality and the potentialities within which nature and nurture foster and/or discourage for individual growth and development over the lifespan. This paper charts Jung's interest in astrology and suggests why his great regard for it and other paranormal or occult practices remains largely neglected and unknown. © 2018, The Society of Analytical Psychology.

  15. The astrological roots of mesmerism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaffer, Simon

    2010-06-01

    Franz Anton Mesmer's 1766 thesis on the influence of the planets on the human body, in which he first publicly presented his account of the harmonic forces at work in the microcosm, was substantially copied from the London physician Richard Mead's early eighteenth century tract on solar and lunar effects on the body. The relation between the two texts poses intriguing problems for the historiography of medical astrology: Mesmer's use of Mead has been taken as a sign of the Vienna physician's enlightened modernity while Mead's use of astro-meteorology has been seen as evidence of the survival of antiquated astral medicine in the eighteenth century. Two aspects of this problem are discussed. First, French critics of mesmerism in the 1780s found precedents for animal magnetism in the work of Paracelsus, Fludd and other early modern writers; in so doing, they began to develop a sophisticated history for astrology and astro-meteorology. Second, the close relations between astro-meteorology and Mead's project illustrate how the environmental medical programmes emerged. The making of a history for astrology accompanied the construction of various models of the relation between occult knowledge and its contexts in the enlightenment.

  16. Self, other, and astrology: esoteric therapy in Sri Lanka.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perinbanayagam, R S

    1981-02-01

    HARRY STACK SULLIVAN'S argument that anxiety as a fundamental human experience is alleviated by the use of various procedures that he called "security operations" is used in this paper to examine the meaning of astrology in Sri Lanka. Astrology and the doctrine of karma provide the relevant framework in which various forms of misfortune are understood and handled. An examination of cases in Sri Lanka reveals that astrology and the doctrine of karma enable a person of that culture to create a number of structures which have a therapeutic effect.

  17. Judicial astrology in theory and practice in later medieval Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, Hilary M

    2010-06-01

    Interrogations and elections were two branches of Arabic judicial astrology made available in Latin translation to readers in western Europe from the twelfth century. Through an analysis of the theory and practice of interrogations and elections, including the writing of the Jewish astrologer Sahl b. Bishr, this essay considers the extent to which judicial astrology was practiced in the medieval west. Consideration is given to historical examples of interrogations and elections mostly from late medieval English manuscripts. These include the work of John Dunstaple (ca. 1390-1453), the musician and astrologer who is known have served at the court of John, duke of Bedford. On the basis of the relatively small number of surviving historical horoscopes, it is argued that the practice of interrogations and elections lagged behind the theory.

  18. Early-Years Educators' Attitudes to Science and Pseudo-Science: The Case of Astronomy and Astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kallery, Maria

    2001-01-01

    Surveyed Greek elementary teachers' attitudes toward astrology, investigating whether they could distinguish between astronomy as the science and astrology as the pseudoscience. Teacher surveys indicated that 60 percent of respondents subscribed more or less to the astrological principles, and 59 percent viewed both astronomy and astrology as…

  19. William Harvey, Aristotle and astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregory, Andrew

    2014-06-01

    In this paper I argue that William Harvey believed in a form of astrology. It has long been known that Harvey employed a macrocosm-microcosm analogy and used alchemical terminology in describing how the two types of blood change into one another. This paper then seeks to examine a further aspect of Harvey in relation to the magical tradition. There is an important corollary to this line of thought, however. This is that while Harvey does have a belief in astrology, it is strongly related to Aristotle's views in this area and is quite restricted and attenuated relative to some contemporary beliefs in astrology. This suggests a more general thesis. While Harvey was amenable to ideas which we associate with the natural magic tradition, those ideas had a very broad range of formulation and there was a limit to how far he would accept them. This limit was largely determined by Harvey's adherence to Aristotle's natural philosophy and his Christian beliefs. I argue that this is also the case in relation to Harvey's use of the macrocosm-microcosm analogy and of alchemical terminology, and, as far as we can rely on the evidence, this informs his attitudes towards witches as well. Understanding Harvey's influences and motives here is important in placing him properly in the context of early seventeenth-century thought.

  20. Interreligious transfers in the Middle Ages: the case of astrology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    von Stuckrad, K.

    2008-01-01

    This article describes the discipline of astrology as an example of manifold interreligious contacts and transfers in the Middle Ages. Over against an image of the Middle Ages as being predominantly Christian and striving to violently suppress science, philosophy, and astrology, it is shown that in

  1. Instruments and demonstrations in the astrological curriculum: evidence from the University of Vienna, 1500-1530.

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    Hayton, Darin

    2010-06-01

    Historians have used university statutes and acts to reconstruct the official astrology curriculum for students in both the arts and medical faculties, including the books studied, their order, and their relation to other texts. Statutes and acts, however, cannot offer insight into what actually happened during lectures and in the classroom: in other words, how and why astrology was taught and learned in the medieval university. This paper assumes that the astrology curriculum is better understood as the set of practices that constituted it and gave it meaning for both masters and students. It begins to reconstruct what occurred in the classroom by drawing on published and unpublished lecture notes. These offer insight into how masters presented the material as they did, and why. The paper argues three points: first, the teaching of astrology centered on demonstrations involving astrological instruments: specifically, various kinds of paper astrolabes. Second, the astrological instruction focused on conveying the pragmatics of astrology rather than esoteric, theoretical issues. Finally, astrology as it was taught in the arts curriculum was explicitly intended to provide a foundation for students who would advance to study medicine at the university.

  2. Studies of Astrology and Personality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, I.W.

    1979-01-01

    Reviews the behavioral evidence of the possible relationship between the movements of the planets and personality variables. Concludes that astrology is a science consisting primarily of false data claims and much further research is required before any supported conclusions can be reached. (Author)

  3. Astrological signs and personality in Kuwaitis and Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed; Lester, David

    2006-04-01

    Samples of Kuwaiti (N=460) and American (N=273) undergraduates responded to six personality questionnaires to assess optimism, pessimism, suicidal ideation, ego-grasping, death anxiety, general anxiety, and obssessive-compulsiveness. Each participant was assigned to the astrological sign associated with date of birth. One-way analyses of variance yielded nonsignificant F ratios for all the seven scales in both Kuwaiti and American samples, except for anxiety scores among Americans. It was concluded that there was little support for an association between astrological sun signs and scores on the present personality scales.

  4. The Church of San Miniato al Monte, Florence: Astronomical and Astrological Connections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shrimplin, V.

    2011-06-01

    The church of San Miniato al Monte is examined in the context of interest in astrology and astronomy in early Renaissance Florence. Vitruvius emphasised the need for architects to "be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens" in his famous Ten Books of Architecture and, at San Miniato, astronomical and astrological features are combined in order to link humanity with the celestial or spiritual realm. The particular significance of Pisces and Taurus is explored in relation to Christian symbolism, raising questions about the role of astronomy and astrology in art and architecture.

  5. 'Astronomy' or 'astrology': a brief history of an apparent confusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Losev, Alexandre

    2012-03-01

    The modern usage of the words 'astronomy' and 'astrology' is traced back to distinctions that are largely ignored in recent scholarship. Three interpretations of celestial phenomena (in a geometrical, a substantialist and a prognostic form) co-existed during the Hellenistic Period. From Plato to Isidore of Seville, the semiotic contrast is evidenced, and its later developments are sketched. The concept of astronomy is found to be rather constant and distinct from changing views about astrology.

  6. Plato's Cosmic Theology: A Rationale for a Polytheistic Astrology?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henriques, André

    2015-05-01

    Plato's cosmology influenced classical astronomy and religion, but was in turn influenced by the polytheistic context of its time. Throughout his texts, including the cosmological treatise Timaeus, and the discussions on the soul in the Phaedrus, Plato (c.428-c.348 BC) established what can be generalised as Platonic cosmological thought. An understanding of the philosophical and mythical levels of Platonic thought can provide a rationale for polytheistic and astrological worldviews, pointing to some cosmological continuity, alongside major shifts, from ancient Greek religion to the astrological thought of ancient astronomers such as Claudius Ptolemy.

  7. Horoscopes Versus Telescopes: A Focus on Astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, Andrew, Ed.

    1988-01-01

    Criticizes astrology and uses student interest to help encouraging critical thinking and the scientific method. Provides some thought-provoking questions, three activities, and resource materials and a list of astronomy organizations. (YP)

  8. An Astrological Diary of the Seventeenth Century - Samuel Jeake of Rye 1652-1699

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Michael; Gregory, Annabel

    1988-04-01

    A seventeenth-century merchant and nonconformist from Rye in Sussex, Samuel Jeake had a passionate interest in astrology. In his diary--recently recovered in Los Angeles and published here for the first time--Jeake not only recorded the events of his life; he subjected them to astrological scrutiny, interspersing his text with horoscopes. The result is one of the most interesting 17th-century diaries to be published in many years, throwing important light on the history of astrology, commerce, medicine, and religion. An illuminating introduction by the editors places the diary in the context of the preoccupations and priorities of Jeake's age.

  9. How to read Simon Forman's casebooks: medicine, astrology, and gender in Elizabethan London.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassel, L

    1999-04-01

    Simon Forman's astrological casebooks record thousands of medical consultations. Amidst the wealth of information in these documents, however, it is unclear to what extent Forman relied on the stars for diagnoses and therapies, or how the casebooks reflect the dymanic between Forman and his clients. This article attempts to answer these questions by reading the casebooks alongside Forman's guide to astrological physic. This approach reveals that astrology was paramount in Forman's evaluations and treatments of his patients. According to Forman, in order for him to effect a cure, he had to be trusted. It was particularly difficult to treat women because their health depended on the state of their wombs, and on their sexual activity, subjects about which women were notoriously duplicitous. The task of the astrologer was first to assess whether or not a woman was sexually active, and only then could he make a judgement about her disease. At the same time, in demonstrating an ability to discern whether or not she was being honest about her sexual activities, Forman won her confidence. By accounting for the role of astrology and the dynamics between the patient and the physician, this article provides the framework within which to read one of the most comprehensive records of medical practices in early modern England.

  10. Mysteries of attraction: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, astrology and desire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rutkin, H Darrel

    2010-06-01

    Although in his later years Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) vehemently rejected astrology, he earlier used it in a variety of ways, but primarily to provide further evidence for positions to which he had arrived by other means. One such early use appears in his commentary on his friend Girolamo Benivieni's love poetry, the Canzone d'amore, of 1486-1487. In the passages discussed here, Pico presents an intensive Platonic natural philosophical analysis based on a deep astrologically informed understanding of human nature as he attempts to explain a perennial question, namely, why one person is attracted to a certain person (or people), and another to others. I will place this discussion of the mysteries of attraction and desire in historical perspective by tracing Pico's changing relationship to astrology during the course of his short but passionate life, and in historiographic perspective by revising Frances Yates's still influential views concerning Pico's contribution to Renaissance thought and his relationship with Marsilio Ficino.

  11. Reading the Stars of the Renaissance. Fritz Saxl and Astrology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rembrandt Duits

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses Fritz Saxl’s publications on astrological images from the western Middle Ages and Renaissance, from his early study on the representation of the planets (1912, via his catalogues of astrological and mythological manuscripts (1915 and 1927 and his contributions on the depiction of the children of the planets (1919, 1923, 1927 to his booklet on the astrological ceiling in the Villa Farnesina in Rome (1934. It aims to assess the importance of Saxl’s work and to show his development from a close follower of Aby Warburg to an independent theorist, with his own method and approach and his own answer to one of the central issues Warburg had raised – how the integrate the old image of the Renaissance as the revival of classical Antiquity with the new picture of the Renaissance as the birth of the modern rational world presented by Burckhardt during the nineteenth century.

  12. Astrological birth signs in suicide: hypothesis or speculation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salib, Emad

    2003-04-01

    Astrology is no longer regarded as a science by many, because its claims are almost impossible to test empirically in controlled laboratory conditions and it can not meet the scientific need to be reproducible. However, the majority of those who read their 'star signs' can identify aspects of their personality in what they read and it is possible that this may influence their attitudes and actions. The literature has neglected astrological signs as a possible predictor of suicide ideation. To see whether astrological birth signs are associated with suicide and the method used, data was collected from the Public Health Department in North Cheshire representing all the Cheshire Coroner's verdicts of suicide, and open verdicts, in all deceased aged 60 and above between 1989 and 2000. The observed occurrence of deaths due to natural causes, and suicide, in relation to birth signs did not differ significantly from what would be expected from chance. However, the distribution of suicide by hanging appeared significantly higher in those with a birth sign of Virgo and lowest in Sagittarius and Scorpio. The distribution of violent and non-violent suicides in relation to star signs showed higher occurences of violent death in persons born in the summer months.

  13. On the Intercourse Between Indian and the Arabic/Persian Astrologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beinorius, Audrius

    2015-05-01

    The history of astrology offers to its students a primary challenge: the complexity of its career in transmission from one cultural area to another and in transformation of its doctrines and methods to fit the interests and cultural circumstances of its eager recipients. The translation movement between the Indian and Arabic/Persian cultures is still rarely studied. In this paper I am discussing the relations (intellectual voyages) between Indian and Arabic/Persian astrological traditions from historical and cultural perspectives. By using the various examples from Sanskrit, Pahlavī, Arabic and Persian sources I try to display the intimate scientific exchanges, by emphasizing the field of astrology and divination, between two geographically close, but in a religious and philosophical sense, very different cultural areas. The conclusion is made that the influence of Hindu astro-sciences on Islamic culture was comparatively greater but the impact of the Islamic sciences on Hindus was no less significant. On both sides a fruitful process of enculturation and integration of technical astral concepts and applied methods took place.

  14. Hebrew and Latin astrology in the twelfth century: the example of the location of pain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnett, Charles

    2010-06-01

    The formative period of Latin and Hebrew astrology occurred virtually simultaneously in both cultures. In the second quarter of the twelfth century the terminology of the subject was established and the textbooks which became authoritative were written. The responsibility for this lay almost entirely with two scholars: John of Seville for the Latins, and Abraham ibn Ezra for the Jews. It is unlikely to have been by coincidence that the same developments in astrology occurred in these two cultures. John of Seville and Abraham ibn Ezra were both brought up within the Islamic culture of Spain, and their astrology was Arabic astrology. Moreover, some scholars have thought that John's origins were Jewish, while Ibn Ezra is known to have collaborated with Latin scholars (whose names are not recorded). It cannot be a coincidence that they forged the science of astrology for their respect co-religionists at almost the same time. Yet, very little research has been done on the possible relations between the two scholars. The purpose of this paper is to begin to explore this relationship, and to illustrate it in particular by their shared doctrine concern the location of pain.

  15. INTEREST IN ASTROLOGY AND PHRENOLOGY OVER TWO CENTURIES: A GOOGLE NGRAM STUDY.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genovese, Jeremy E C

    2015-12-01

    The Google Ngram Viewer shows the frequency of words in a large corpus of books over two centuries. In this study, the names of two pseudosciences, astrology and phrenology, were compared. An interesting pattern emerged. While the level of interest in astrology remained relatively stable over the course of two centuries, interest in phrenology rose rapidly in the early 1800s but then declined. Reasons for this pattern are discussed.

  16. Notes on Some Sanskrit Astrological Authors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Gansten

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper supplements and corrects the information given in the works of David Pingree regarding four major authors on Tājika or Sanskritized Perso-Arabic astrology from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century: Tejaḥsiṃha, Yādavasūri, Bālakṛṣṇa and Balabhadra. It further contributes information on a fifth such author, Tuka, not discussed by Pingree.

  17. Adapting Traditional Ideas for a New Reality: Cosmographers and Physicians Updating Astrology to Encompass the New World.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanuza Navarro, Tayra M C

    2016-08-01

    This paper aims to demonstrate that astrology was one of the disciplines that most strongly experienced the process that led European natural philosophers, once they were confronted with the nature of the New World, to recognise that previous knowledge was not as complete or absolute as previously assumed, and that the content of several disciplines had to be renewed, both epistemologically and methodologically. This paper focuses on the work by the cosmographer Henrico Martinez, Repertorio de los tiempos (1606), in which he established the astrological influences specific to Mexico, and the work Sitio, naturatezay propiedades de la Ciudad de Mexico (1618) by the physician Diego Cisneros, who refuted Martinez's astrology for Mexico and created his own instructions for the use of astrology in the practice of medicine in New Spain.

  18. The political uses of astrology: predicting the illness and death of princes, kings and popes in the Italian Renaissance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azzolini, Monica

    2010-06-01

    This paper examines the production and circulation of astrological prognostications regarding the illness and death of kings, princes, and popes in the Italian Renaissance (ca. 1470-1630). The distribution and consumption of this type of astrological information was often closely linked to the specific political situation in which they were produced. Depending on the astrological techniques used (prorogations, interrogations, or annual revolutions), and the media in which they appeared (private letters or printed prognostica) these prognostications fulfilled different functions in the information economy of Renaissance Italy. Some were used to legitimise the rule of a political leader, others to do just the opposite. Astrological prorogations and interrogations were often used to plan military and political strategies in case of the illness or death of a political leader, while astrological prognostications were generally written to promote certain political leaders while undermining others. While certainly often partisan to this game, astrologers, for their part, worked within a very well established tradition that gave authority to their forecasts. This paper argues that, as indicators of deeper political tensions otherwise not always explicitly manifest, these prognostications are privileged sources of information providing a better understanding of the political history of the period.

  19. [Pietro d'Abano and the astrological and scientific image in Padova during the XIV century: from Giotto to Carraresi].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mariani Canova, Giordana

    2008-01-01

    The paper intends to prove the incidence that scientific doctrines, mostly Pietro d'Abano's astrological and medical studies, had on Giotto's painting at the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova and his lost astrological cycle in the Sala della Ragione. It is emphasized how in no other painting of his, Giotto displayed as much intellectualism as in the Cappella degli Scrovegni. There we can note the importance of the physical representation of the sky and stars and figures' particular physiognomic characterization referable to Pietro d'Abano's theories presented in his astrological treatises and in his Compilation Phisionomiae. Even the ecceptional botanical realism displayed in the representation of plants can be probably referred to Pietro d'Abano's scientific teaching. An hypotetical reconstruction, according to Ptolomeus' theories and Pietro d'Abano's physiognomic, of Giotto's astrological cycle in the Sala della Ragione is also proposed.

  20. Twenty-Year Survey of Scientific Literacy and Attitudes Toward Science: Students’ Acceptance of Astrology and Pseudoscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugarman, Hannah R.; Impey, C.; Buxner, S.; Antonellis, J.

    2010-01-01

    Our survey used to collect data during a twenty-year long investigation into the science literacy of undergraduates (see Impey et al., this meeting), contains several questions addressing how students conceptualize astrology, and other pseudoscientific ideas. This poster presents findings from the quantitative analysis of some of these question responses from almost 10,000 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory astronomy courses from 1989 to 2009. The results from our data reveal that a large majority of students (78%) and half of science majors (52%) consider astrology either "very” or "sort of” scientific. Students performed comparatively better on all other pseudoscientific questions, demonstrating that belief in astrology is pervasive and deeply entrenched. We compare our results to those obtained by the NSF Science Indicators series, and suggest possible reasons for the high susceptibility to belief in astrology. These findings call into question whether our education system is adequately preparing students to be scientifically literate adults. You can help! Stop by our poster and fill out a new survey that will give us important parallel information to help us continue to analyze our valuable data set. We acknowledge the NSF for funding under Award No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  1. Using Astrology to Teach Research Methods to Introductory Psychology Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Roger A.; Grasha, Anthony F.

    1986-01-01

    Provides a classroom demonstration designed to test an astrological hypothesis and help teach introductory psychology students about research design and data interpretation. Illustrates differences between science and nonscience, the role of theory in developing and testing hypotheses, making comparisons among groups, probability and statistical…

  2. The stars and the state: Astronomy, astrology, and the politics of natural knowledge in early medieval Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buhrman, Kristina Mairi

    This dissertation examines the social factors involved in the practices of observational astrology (Ch. tianwen, Jp. tenmon ) and calendrical astronomy (Ch. lifa, Jp. rekihō) at the Japanese court. The production and monopolization of astrological and astronomical knowledge had, from the time of the Han Dynasty in China, been part of the state bureaucracy and one of the signs of legitimate rule. In the seventh century, Japan too had imported and implemented these state sciences of the Chinese-style imperium. However, by the twelfth century, while state control of astronomical knowledge continued to operate at a surface level, within the Japanese court bureaucracy dissent and debate reigned. A number of lineages and factions cooperated or competed over astronomical and astrological facts, which resulted in a situation where there was no unified "truth" about the stars accepted by the majority of elite members of the court. The political fragmentation and factionalism that characterized the early medieval Japanese state was also to be found in knowledge about the natural world circulating at court. The major reason for this fragmentation of knowledge was the diversity of the population that produced this same knowledge, a population that did not share either a common identity or definition of practice. Astrological and astronomical knowledge was no longer produced solely by the technical bureaucrats whose offices had been established in the eighth-century Chinese-style law codes (Jp. ritsuryō)—instead, these officials contested with other legitimate but non-official purveyors of natural knowledge: Buddhist monks and court scholars and mathematicians prominent among them. Furthermore, the statements of fact produced by all three of these factions were subject to critique and revision by members of the top echelon of the court bureaucracy, the elite nobility. Clearly there were no independent professional fields of astrology or astronomy in late classical or early

  3. Cosmografía y astrología en Manila: una red intelectual en el mundo colonial ibérico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Cecilia Ávalos Flores

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The following article will aim at reconstructing an intellectual network of people interested in both astrology and cosmography in seventeenth-century New Spain. This study will trace a particular means of transmission and dissemination of knowledge, namely the exchange of books on astrology, in order to identify a network of astrologers and cosmographers who shared a similar educational background and who had similar motivations to get interested in the so-called occult sciences. By doing so, this research will reflect on the problem of disciplinary boundaries during the early modern-period, and on the question of transmission of knowledge in the Iberian World.//El presente artículo tiene como objeto de estudio dos campos del conocimiento que estuvieron estrechamente relacionados durante el período moderno: la astrología y la cosmografía. Al estudiar algunos casos inquisitoriales contra ciertos cosmógrafos en Filipinas, acusados de practicar astrología juidiciaria, pretende reconstruir una red intelectual de estudiosos que compartían una tradición educativa y perseguían intereses profesionales similares. En su intento por rastrear esta microcomunidad intelectual, el presente estudio subraya la importancia de la transmisión y circulación del conocimiento, tanto a un nivel abstracto como material, no sólo entre el reino español y sus colonias en el Nuevo Mundo, sino también al interior de las colonias mismas.

  4. Casebooks in early modern England: medicine, astrology, and written records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassell, Lauren

    2014-01-01

    Casebooks are the richest sources that we have for encounters between early modern medical practitioners and their patients. This article compares astrological and medical records across two centuries, focused on England, and charts developments in the ways in which practitioners kept records and reflected on their practices. Astrologers had a long history of working from particular moments, stellar configurations, and events to general rules. These practices required systematic notation. Physicians increasingly modeled themselves on Hippocrates, recording details of cases as the basis for reasoned expositions of the histories of disease. Medical records, as other scholars have demonstrated, shaped the production of medical knowledge. Instead, this article focuses on the nature of casebooks as artifacts of the medical encounter. It establishes that casebooks were serial records of practice, akin to diaries, testimonials, and registers; identifies extant English casebooks and the practices that led to their production and preservation; and concludes that the processes of writing, ordering, and preserving medical records are as important for understanding the medical encounter as the records themselves.

  5. When the Chinese met the West: A Review of the Dissemination and Influence of Indian, Arabic and European Astronomy and Astrology in the Imperial China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yunli

    2012-09-01

    In traditional Chinese ideology, the tianwen (Celestial Patterns) and lifa (Calendar) are important matters in the legitimization and maintenance of a regime. From very early times, astrology and astronomy became a crucial element in statecraft and establishments were always installed in the government to take care of these matters, which formed a tradition very scrupulously observed and documented by every Chinese dynasty without substantial interruption in thousands of years. A special system consisting of astrology and astronomy was developed and kept on developing on its own track. Such a long and well established tradition did not prevent China from receiving, though sometimes with reluctance and selection, arts and knowledge in astronomy and astrology from outside that might supplement and enhance the indigenous ones. This talk will give a survey on the history of the Chinese reception of astronomical and astrological knowledge from ``the West'', namely, India in the 7th to 10th centuries, Arabic area in the 13th to 15th centuries and Europe in the 16th to 18th centuries. Except tracing down the cultural impacts of the new knowledge from outside, I will concentrate on how the new knowledge was appropriated by Chinese governments, as well as by Chinese astronomers and astrologers.

  6. 'Magic coins' and 'magic squares': the discovery of astrological sigils in the Oldenburg Letters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roos, Anna Marie

    2008-09-20

    Enclosed in a 1673 letter to Henry Oldenburg were two drawings of a series of astrological sigils, coins and amulets from the collection of Strasbourg mathematician Julius Reichelt (1637-1719). As portrayals of particular medieval and early modern sigils are relatively rare, this paper will analyse the role of these medals in medieval and early modern medicine, the logic behind their perceived efficacy, and their significance in early modern astrological and cabalistic practice. I shall also demonstrate their change in status in the late seventeenth century from potent magical healing amulets tied to the mysteries of the heavens to objects kept in a cabinet for curiosos. The evolving perception of the purpose of sigils mirrored changing early modem beliefs in the occult influences of the heavens upon the body and the natural world, as well as the growing interests among virtuosi in collecting, numismatics and antiquities.

  7. Cosmic Thing: Astrology, Space Science, and Personal Cartography in Robert Rauschenberg's Autobiography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, C. L.

    2011-06-01

    The following paper undertakes an iconographic analysis of Robert Rauschenberg's large scale print, Autobiography (1967). The artist's interest in astronomy and astrology, visual metaphors aligning the body with the cosmos, and the cartographic representation of self are discussed. Autobiography is placed in cultural and historical context with other works by the artist, elaborated as a personal narrative-an alternative to traditional self portraiture.

  8. Science versus the stars: a double-blind test of the validity of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and computer-generated astrological natal charts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyman, Alyssa Jayne; Vyse, Stuart

    2008-07-01

    The authors asked 52 college students (38 women, 14 men, M age = 19.3 years, SD = 1.3 years) to identify their personality summaries by using a computer-generated astrological natal chart when presented with 1 true summary and 1 bogus one. Similarly, the authors asked participants to identify their true personality profile from real and bogus summaries that the authors derived from the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; P. T. Costa Jr. & R. R. McCrae, 1985). Participants identified their real NEO-FFI profiles at a greater-than-chance level but were unable to identify their real astrological summaries. The authors observed a P. T. Barnum effect in the accuracy ratings of both psychological and astrological measures but did not find differences between the odd-numbered (i.e., favorable) signs and the even-numbered (i.e., unfavorable) signs.

  9. The certitude of astrology: The scientific methodology of Al-Qabīsī and Abū Ma'shar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnett, Charles

    2002-01-01

    Abū Ma'shar (787-886) and al-Qābīsī (mid-10th century) were active astrologers and defenders of the scientific character of their discipline. They wrote works on criticisms brought forward against the discipline and challenged practitioners whom they considered as detrimental for the esteem and future fate of their science. Nevertheless, both writers can be seen as heirs to a single tradition of thought, which took its origins in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblios and developed largely independently of the religious philosophical beliefs of a specific community. The arguments developed for proving the scientific value of astrology are interesting in their own right, and merit further study not only by historians of science but also by historians of philosophy.

  10. The Cultural Background of Astrology in the Romance ofThree Kingdoms%《三国演义》中出现占星术的文化背景

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李文智

    2017-01-01

    Astrology appearing in The Romance of Three Kingdoms has four reasons:First,the fusion of astrology with the classics of pre-Qin period inevitably made the astrology appear in historical records. Second,the theory of interaction between heaven and man in Western Han dynasty and the divination ide-ology in Eastern Han Dynasty passing down to the period of Three Kingdoms also made people in the Three Kingdoms Period attach great importance to astronomical phenomena.Third,in the Yuan Dynas-ties,with the interaction between western culture and Chinese culture,Western astrology ideas were in-troduced into China and Chinese astrology gradually went down into the common people.Fourth,the pop-ularity of astrology among the common people inevitably made it appear in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.%《三国演义》中出现占星术原因有四:占星术与先秦典籍融合,使得占星术出现于《三国志》中成为必然,并对《三国演义》产生影响。三国时期前承两汉,西汉的天人感应,东汉的谶纬之说,使得占星术在三国时期十分盛行。元代西学东渐肇始,西方占星思想进入中国,本土占星术进一步走向下层。市民阶层对于占星术的熟知使得占星术出现在《三国演义》中成为必然。

  11. [Diego de Cisneros and novo-Hispanic astrological and geographical medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez-Sala, M L

    1994-01-01

    The collection of geographical information about the New World which was originated during the XVI century started being organized during the XVI century started being organized and explained, in the field of medicine, towards the end of the century and continued during the earliest decades of the following. Writers in the medical profession of these days are characterized by their interest, sometimes coexisting with or alternated with the outlooks of geography of illness and astrology. Diego Cisneros is a outstanding writer of a single place of valuable work so far Known, who was born in Madrid, became a doctor at Alcala de Henares and then arrive in New Spain in 1612. His book represents the incipient baroque of the time and is a valuable contribution to the Knowledge of geography and medicine and is also a piece of art work. It contains one of the first plans of the City of Mexico and its neighbouring sites drawn ina a typical baroque style. The scientific importance of the book consists of the clearcut separation between science and belief leading to assert the freedom of Mankind to put an end to medieval astrology which imprisoned the individual. Because of his leanings towards the Alcala School he upholds the idea of the utility of science and experience linked up to objective clinical observation. Cisneros contributes through his work to the unfolding of two significant processes in the history of national culture: one relates to identity and the other one to scientific community. These pages contain an analysis of the development of his work.

  12. Inter relationship of Ayurveda and Astrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dwivedi, Jaiprakash Narayan

    2013-01-01

    In the universe all the creatures are related to Adhivyadhi, which indicates mental agony or bodily pain. Acharyas of Ayurveda like Charaka, Sushruta and Kashyap have classified diseases into various categories like Agantuja, Sharirika, Manasika, Swabhavika, etc. Charaka classified diseases based on the prognosis like Sadhya, Asadhya, Mrudu and Daruna. Ayurveda also suggested Daiva Vyapashraya Chikitsa which includes of Manidharana and chanting Mantras. Astrological sciences suggest 10 types of remedial measures in the treatment of diseases. This science considers that causative factors of various disorders are the Navagrahas (nine planets). The influence of the planets on various procedures like drug processing, bath taking, performing Yajna, wearing Ratna, etc. are well documented in Jyotishashastra. Drugs processed in Chandra Nakshatra acts as ambrosia and subdues Tridoshajanya Vyadhi. Medicated baths are suggested for diseases engendered due to involvement of different planet effects viz. Sarshpa for Shukra, Haridra and Daruharidra for Shani Lodhra for Ketu, Sharpunkha for Rahu, etc. In a close scrutiny it appears that Jyotishashastra Siddhanta can play crucial role in the management of chronic diseases.

  13. The Palazzo della Ragione in Padua: Representation and Communication of Art, Architecture, and Astrology of a Civic Monument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borgherini, M.; Garbin, E.

    2011-06-01

    Eight centuries of the history of art and of Padua's scientific and technological culture deposited on the stones and frescoes of its Palace of Law ("Palazzo della Ragione") make this great work of urban architecture a part of the city's collective identity. This "palimpsest", legible only to a restricted circle of specialists, should be accessible to a vaster public interested in understanding this object symbol of local culture. The project planned for interactive exploration on the web is a series of digital models, employing tomographic-endoscopic visualizations and, in future, multi-resolution images. The various models devised allow the visitor to superimpose the Palace's current conditions on the various transformations undergone over the centuries. Similarly, comparisons can be made between the astrological fresco cycle with maps of the heavens, cosmological hypotheses, ancient and contemporary astrological treatises, and the related exchange of knowledge between the Orient and the Occident.

  14. Testing multiple statistical hypotheses resulted in spurious associations: a study of astrological signs and health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Austin, Peter C; Mamdani, Muhammad M; Juurlink, David N; Hux, Janet E

    2006-09-01

    To illustrate how multiple hypotheses testing can produce associations with no clinical plausibility. We conducted a study of all 10,674,945 residents of Ontario aged between 18 and 100 years in 2000. Residents were randomly assigned to equally sized derivation and validation cohorts and classified according to their astrological sign. Using the derivation cohort, we searched through 223 of the most common diagnoses for hospitalization until we identified two for which subjects born under one astrological sign had a significantly higher probability of hospitalization compared to subjects born under the remaining signs combined (P<0.05). We tested these 24 associations in the independent validation cohort. Residents born under Leo had a higher probability of gastrointestinal hemorrhage (P=0.0447), while Sagittarians had a higher probability of humerus fracture (P=0.0123) compared to all other signs combined. After adjusting the significance level to account for multiple comparisons, none of the identified associations remained significant in either the derivation or validation cohort. Our analyses illustrate how the testing of multiple, non-prespecified hypotheses increases the likelihood of detecting implausible associations. Our findings have important implications for the analysis and interpretation of clinical studies.

  15. Métodos para determinar las casas del horóscopo en la astrología

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Casulleras, Josep

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper revises the different methods of computation devised by Medieval Arabic astronomers and mathematicians for the astrological practice of the division of houses. Starting from a classification of these methods established by J.D. North (1986 and extended by E.S. Kennedy (1996, I summarize the available information contained in previous studies and present new data emerging from the analysis of more recently explored sources, emphasizing certain features of a Western astrological tradition.

    Este trabajo repasa los distintos métodos de cálculo que los astrónomos y matemáticos árabes medievales desarrollaron para ser aplicados a la práctica astrológica de la división de casas. Partiendo de una clasificación de estos métodos establecida por J.D. North (1986 y ampliada por E.S. Kennedy (1996, se recoge la información que se halla en estudios anteriores y se presentan nuevos datos como resultado del análisis de fuentes exploradas más recientemente, destacando ciertos elementos pertenecientes a una tradición astrológica occcidental.

  16. Criticism and Study of the Astrology of the Eckankar Based on the Teachings of Islam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoudi, Abdolreza; Shamsaie, Maryam; Kakaei, Hashem

    2017-01-01

    The subject of astrology in the School of Eckankar has two main bases of Karma and reincarnation. Karma or the very law of action and reaction can be called the moral basis of the Eckankar. The totality of this law is accepted by the reason and tradition. But yet what casts doubt and therefore a serious damage to this law would be a tight…

  17. ["Nicolaus Ficke... who practiced physiognomy, astrology, etc. was also a bad man"].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenke, Nils; Roudet, Nicolas

    2012-01-01

    This arcticle summarizes what could be learned from newly discovered documents about the biography of Nicolas von Vicken, first known reader of Kepler's "Astronomia Nova" and Kepler's partner in an exchange of more than a dozen letters over several years. Von Vicken stems from a rich and influential family of merchants in Riga, made noble by the Polish King (who ruled Riga at the time) in 1580. His education included legal studies at the universities of Königsberg, Leipzig and Rostock, partially overlapping with a stay of ten years at the Polish court. There von Vicken pursued family business but also served in an official court role. In 1600/1 von Vicken switched sides and started to serve the Swedish ruler (and later king) Duke Carl IX, who was at war with Poland to gain control over Riga and Livonia. In 1602 a mission for Sweden to Northern Germany brought him in conflict with Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, who accused von Vicken of withholding money from him, which was supposed to be used for hiring troops. Von Vicken, together with his brother Heinrich, was imprisoned, but could flee. During a mission to Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, in 1599/1600 von Vicken had been initiated as an alchemist and astrologer through reading the works of Paracelsus and his future stations in life were influenced by this. These include an attempt to get employed at the Saxon court in Dresden, and stays in Wolfenbiittel and Halberstadt, both ruled by Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Von Vicken offered various astrological and alchemical services to the Duke and private investors. With one of them he got into a serious conflict over the alleged non-fillment of a contract to produce steel in an alchemical way. During that von Vicken got imprisoned twice, in 1609 and between 1611 and 1614. A subsequent attempt to get employed by Ernst of Schaumburg left us with several letters that detail von Vicken's alchemical and astrological thinking, two of these are

  18. Astrólogos y astrología al servicio de la monarquía navarra durante la Baja Edad Media (1350-1446

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serrano Larráyoz, Fernando

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available This article provides a general view on astrologers who served at the courts of Carlos II, Carlos III and Blanca I of Navarre. This was a position that combined the foretelling of future events with the medical practice of the moment. Despite the prestige that astrologers seem to achieve, this position was never held long term except in some concrete cases.

    El artículo presenta una visión general de los astrólogos que sirvieron en la corte de Carlos II, Carlos III y Blanca I de Navarra. Un cargo cortesano que unía la adivinación de hechos futuros con la práctica médica del momento. Pese al prestigio que parecen alcanzar, no resulta una ocupación con cierta continuidad, salvo en casos muy concretos.

  19. Intelligent Design, A Young Universe, Astrology, UFO's, and More: Tackling Astronomical Pseudo-science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, A.

    2008-11-01

    During IYA educators and scientists will interact with the public in many ways. There will likely be public questions at IYA events about pseudo-scientific topics. While the particular pseudo-sciences that are in vogue change with time, these days popular astronomical pseudo-science includes creationism and intelligent design (and their denial of the age of the universe), astrology, UFO's as extra-terrestrial spaceships, selling star names, the ``face'' on Mars, the claim that the moon landings were a hoax, etc. We discuss some of the recent surveys of belief in pseudo-science and some ways to respond to questions about these topics. A separate resource guide to help answer questions about astronomical pseudoscience is also included in this volume.

  20. An Application of the Cosmologic Concepts and Astronomical Symbols in the Ancient Medical Science and Astrology Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pikichyan, H. V.

    2015-07-01

    Employing the cosmologic concepts and astronomical symbols, the features of the ancient subjective approach of the achievement or perception of the knowledge and its systematic delivery ways are presented. In particular, the ancient systems of the natural medical science and the art of astrology are discussed, whereas the relations of the five cosmological elements, three dynamical agents, nine luminaries and twelve zodiac signs are applied. It is pointed out some misunderstandings encountered in the contemporary interpretation on the evaluation of ancient systems of the knowledge.

  1. [Mathematics - astronomy - astrology special library].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gluch, Sibylle

    2011-01-01

    About 1560 Elector August of Saxony created an unusual library--one distinguished within its period by both its specialization and location. Situated within the Kunstkammer this library was mostly dedicated to the mathematical sciences and related disciplines. It contained works by the most important authors on mathematics, astronomy, and astrology from the classical, medieval, and early modern periods. This essay traces the formation and composition of August's library, and examines its function: What kind of relationship existed between the library and the Kunstkammer? In what way did the library mirror the interests of the Elector, and to what extend does it permit inferences regarding the Elector's knowledge of mathematics? From the analysis August emerges not as a specialist with a deep understanding of mathematics, but as a particular aficionado of mathematical applications. As a practitioner and general follower of the mathematical arts he took part in a far-reaching intellectual network the center of which lay in the University of Wittenberg. Here, Melanchthon had effectively strengthened the importance of the mathematical disciplines within the university curriculum. He regarded mathematics as the foremost science, arguing that before all other disciplines its method enabled man to recognize the harmonic order of the world, and to discern divine providence. Thus, mathematics offered consoling stability and support in an often seemingly chaotic world torn by religious controversies. This kind of esteem for the mathematical sciences did not presuppose expert knowledge. Hence, the fact that August does not appear to have read the mathematical books he collected does not come as a contradiction. On the contrary, for August it sufficed to recognize the potential of the mathematical sciences, which he brought into life through the creation of a specialized library that developed a rhetoric of its own. The collection of his Kunstkammer library spoke of a

  2. [The role of ancient astrology in preparation for a secular natural science and medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geller, Markham J

    2011-01-01

    The Persian period in the Near East (from c. 500 BCE) represented the first example of globalisation, during which advanced cultural centres from Egypt to Afghanistan were united under a single rule and common language. Paul Unschuld has drawn attention to a scientific revolution in the late first millennium BC, extending from Greece to China, from Thales to Confucius, which saw natural law replace the divine law in scientific thinking. This paper argues for new advances in astronomy as the specific motor which motivated changes in scientific thinking and influenced other branches of science, including medicine, just as the new science of astrology, which replaced divination, fundamentally changed the nature of medical prognoses. The secularisation of science was not universally accepted among ancient scholars, and the irony is that somewhat similar reservations accompanied the reception of modern quantum physics.

  3. From medical astrology to medical astronomy: sol-lunar and planetary theories of disease in British medicine, c. 1700-1850.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrison, M

    2000-03-01

    After 1700, astrology lost the respect it once commanded in medical circles. But the belief that the heavens influenced bodily health persisted - even in learned medicine - until well into the nineteenth century. The continuing vitality of these ideas owed much to the new empirical and mechanical outlook of their proponents. Taking their cue from the work of Robert Boyle and Richard Mead, a number of British practitioners amassed statistical evidence which purported to prove the influence of the Moon upon fevers and other diseases. Such ideas flourished in the colonies and in the medical services of the armed forces, but their exponents were not marginal men. Some, like James Lind, were widely respected and drew support for their views from such influential figures as Erasmus Darwin.

  4. The Altdorf mathematics and physics teacher Abdias Trew (1597-1669): astronomer, astrologer, calendar maker and theologician. (German Title: Der Altdorfer Mathematik- und Physikdozent Abdias Trew (1597-1669): Astronom, Astrologe, Kalendermacher und Theologe)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaab, Hans

    Although Abdias Trew (1597-1669) had studied theology, he obtained the chair of mathematics at Altdorf University, and in 1650, the chair of physics was added. In 1654, in addition, he became the ast official calendar maker of the city of Nuremberg. He is kept in memory as the last important protestant astrologer who tried to provide scientific foundations for this field. In this context, his adherence to the Lutheran confession played a role. Although he aimed at integrating new insights, he adhered to his end to Aristotelian physics, since it served his Wittenberg professors since his student days as a foundation of Lutheran dogmatics. After an extensive biography, separate chapters deal with Trew's works in mathematics, geography, optics, mechanics and musical theory, his writings in astronomy, especially those dealing with comets, as well as his “reformation astrology” in connection with the opinions of Melanchthon, Kepler and others. Trew also took part in the discussions about the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, which was going on during the whole 17th century. After short biographical sketches of some of his contemporaries, the book closes with an extensive bibliography of Trew's writings, manuscripts and letters.

  5. A 'college of astrology and medicine'? Charles V, Gervais Chrétien, and the scientific manuscripts of Maître Gervais's College.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boudet, Jean-Patrice

    2010-06-01

    Considered an institution mainly devoted to astrology and medicine by Simon de Phares and by some historians who believe that he was reliable, the college founded in 1371 by Charles V's first physician, Gervais Chrétien, was in fact primarily dedicated to theological students. It was not before 1377 that there were created there two bursaries for scholares regis, specialising in 'licit mathematical sciences', and two medical fellowships. Yet the influence of the activity of these fellows seems to have been rather moderate and-as far as we can learn from the material still extant, notably from manuscripts that belonged to Maître Gervais' College and to some of its members-this institution was devoted much more to theological studies than to medicine and the quadrivium.

  6. Propaganda e crítica social nas cronologias dos almanaques astrológicos durante a Guerra Civil inglesa no século XVII Propaganda and social criticism in the chronologies of the astrological almanacs during the English Civil War in 17 th century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Mesquita Hidalgo Ferreira

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo é parte de uma ampla investigação sobre a utilização dos almanaques astrológicos durante a Guerra Civil inglesa no século XVII como veículo de propaganda e crítica social. Durante esse conflito, havia astrólogos partidários das forças parlamentaristas, como John Booker, e outros partidários das forças realistas, como George Wharton. O presente trabalho analisa algumas dessas publicações, mostrando como o envolvimento político dos autores se manifestava de forma explícita (e, algumas vezes, não tão direta nos referidos almanaques.This article is part of an extensive investigation carried out concerning the use of astrological almanacs during the English Civil War in the 17th century as a medium for propaganda and social criticism. During that conflict there were astrologers who were partisans of the Parliament, such as John Booker, and other who supported the King, such as George Wharton. This work analyses some of those publications, showing that the political commitment of the authors was noticeable in an explicit form (and sometimes in an indirect way in those almanacs.

  7. When a major star dies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joubert, G.

    1988-01-01

    Astrologers are slowly learning what happens when a star dies. On the night of 23-24 February 1987, the light of an exploding star - a supernova with the name SN 1987A - reached the earth. In this article this astrological event of the century are discussed, and its importance for astrologers

  8. Astrologie alchemiche: Ermetismi in transizione e culture occidentali

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ezio Albrile

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Alchemy is the “sacred art” of the transmutation of metals or human beings, and often these two tendencies are expressed together in an allegorical mode infused with an astrological imager reflecting their mystical nature. The astrology is bound to alchemy in the search for the most favorable moment for commencing an enterprise (catarchic astrology or in the form of the interrogational method, in which the horoscope of the precise moment at which a query is made to the astrologer is interpreted to provide an answer. Finally, the article illustrates these themes in some ancient manuscripts from Turin’s National University Library.

  9. Star quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sewell, Rupert

    Many people will read their horoscopes as they look at the year ahead. But astrologists claim horoscopes can also give clues about illnesses to which you might be predisposed. They believe: Astrology can determine potential health problems as well as personality types. An accurate horoscope depends on good information about birth date and time. Anatomical regions correspond to astrological signs. Astrological signs are grouped into four function types.

  10. Intelligent Design, A Young Universe, Astrology, UFO'S, and More: A Guide for Those Involved with IYA on Tackling Pseudo-science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, Andrew; Bobrowsky, M.; Thaller, M.; Plait, P.

    2008-05-01

    During IYA educators and scientists will interact with the public in many ways. There will likely be public questions at IYA events about pseudo-scientific topics. While the particular pseudo-sciences that are in vogue change with time, astronomical pseudo-science includes creationism, intelligent design, astrology, UFO's as extra-terrestrial spaceships, selling star names, the "face" on Mars, the claim that the moon landings were a hoax, etc. We cover information, techniques, resources, and activities for responding sensitively to such claims and for explaining the nature of science. Whether you do programs in a formal classroom, a community setting, a museum, or on the radio, you will need this kind of arsenal of critical-thinking responses for these topics when you face the public. Attendees will receive a resource guide for responding to pseudo-science claims. One of the frequently heard attacks on science deals with "alternatives to evolution" (intelligent design and various forms of creationism). While some think this is a matter with which only biologists need to be concerned, some of the same arguments used against biological evolution are invoked to argue against our understanding of the age of the earth and the universe. We will provide background information on and responses to these ideas, particularly as they concern attacks on cosmology and cosmic evolution. We will also discuss how such questions will give IYA presenters an opportunity to engage the public in discussions about the scientific method and worldview. We will see that some of the agendas and issues we face are not that different from what Galileo faced 400 years ago.

  11. Jean-Pierre Luminet: Renaissance Communicator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pullen, L.; Russo, P.

    2009-02-01

    As science communicators dealing with astronomy we often find a strong interest amongst the public in astrology - how the stars and planets directly affect our individual lives. Nowadays astrology is at odds with the scientific nature of astronomy, but this has not always been the case. Presented here is a background to astrology, to give a deeper understanding of where it has come from and why it has such an enduring place in all forms of global media.

  12. Padua and the Stars: Medieval Painting and Illuminated Manuscripts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canova, G. M.

    2011-06-01

    In the Middle Ages, the University of Padua was one of the most prominent centre for astrological studies in Europe. The Paduan doctor and philosopher, Pietro d'Abano, who lived in the first decades of the 14th century, was the main figure in this field. At the end of the 13th century, during a long stay in Paris, he got in contact with the new astrological doctrines flourished after the translation into Latin of Ptolemy's and Arab's works in Spain. Thus, when he went back to Padua, he published several studies on the influence of celestial bodies on human life and human physical characteristics and psychology. These ideas deeply affected the Paduan society of the 14th century and, consequently, the most important painters chose or were asked to evoke the images of stars, planets, and their properties. This adventure began with Giotto who shows a surprising interest in celestial bodies in the Scrovegni Chapel where he represented a comet, and soon after he produced a cycle of astrological paintings on the vault of the Palazzo della Ragione in the Public Palace of Padua. Unfortunately, in 1420, these paintings were destroyed in a fire, but the magnificent cycle of astrological frescoes realized soon after on the walls of the same room gives us some clues on Giotto's work and shows us the complexity of the Medieval astrological science. Other astrological paintings, still preserved, were realized by the painters of the Carrarese Court such as Guariento, who painted the planets and their influences on human ages in the church of the Eremitani, and Giusto dei Menabuoi who represented a superb zodiac around a realistic map of Earth in the Cathedral Baptistery. So Padua really became the capital of astrological painting in Europe. Other evidence of the astrological image in the Veneto Region, between the 14th and 15th centuries, can be found in the manuscripts illuminated in the milieu of the University of Padua and in the first books printed in Venice.

  13. Mercury Retrograde Effect in Capital Markets: Truth or Illusion?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murgea Aurora

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available From the most ancient times, the astrological beliefs have played an important role in human history, thinking, world-views, language and other elements of social culture. The practice of relating the movement of celestial bodies to events in financial markets is relatively newer but despite the inconsistency between financial astrology and standard economic or financial theory, it seems to be largely spread among capital market traders. This paper evaluates one of the astrological effects on the capital market, more precisely the Mercury retrograde effect on US capital market. Despite the fact that it is just an optical illusion the astrological tradition says that Mercury retrograde periods are characterized by confusion and miscommunications. The trades could be less effective, the individuals more prone to make mistakes so there is a long-held belief that it is better to avoid set plans during Mercury retrograde, signing contracts, starting new ventures or open new stock market positions. The main findings of this study are lower return’s volatilities in the Mercury retrograde periods, inconsistent with the astrologic theories assumptions but consistent with the idea that trader’s beliefs in Mercury retrograde effect could change the market volatility exactly in the opposite sense than the predicted one.

  14. [Early Egyptian forerunners of the Paranatellonta?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quack, J F

    1999-01-01

    The term "paranatellonta" is well-known in greek astrological literature. It designates stars either rising together with the sun or being in other conspicuous positions to it. Tentatively, a forerunner of this conception is identified in an egyptian depiction attested several times from the 13th century BC onwards. There, "gods" are depicted who are defined by their positions in regard to the sun-god. It seems possible to connect their positions with the typical meanings of the word paranatellonta. Some reflections on the contribution of Egypt to hellenistic astrology are added, including some references to the largely unpublished corpus of demotic egyptian astrological texts.

  15. Stars, demons and the body in fifteenth-century England.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralley, Robert

    2010-06-01

    In 1441, Eleanor Cobham, duchess of Gloucester, was arrested, together with three associates: Margery Jourdemayne, the 'Witch of Eye', Roger Bolingbroke, Oxford cleric and astrologer, and Thomas Southwell, MB, canon of St. Stephen's, Westminster. They were accused of plotting to kill King Henry VI by necromancy, but contemporary chronicles differed on the precise nature of their crime: had they summoned demons or cast an astrological chart? This paper explores the relationship between astrology and demonic magic, focusing on feelings, rites and apparatus, and perceptions that the more the practitioner's body was implicated in the divinatory procedure, the more likely it was to be illicit.

  16. [Signs of the zodiac and personality].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angst, J; Scheidegger, P

    1976-01-01

    3074 young men resident in the canton of Zurich, representing 50% of the 19 year old male population, form the fully representative sample of our large scale investigation. We investigated whether personality traits measured by means of the differentiated "Freiburger personality inventory" (FPI) could in any way be correlated to the signs of the zodiac under which the young men were born. The statistical analysis did not reveal any correlation between signs of the zodiac and personality. The claim made by astrologers that people can be characterized according to their sign of the zodiac (sagitarius, taurus, cancer, scorpion) must be refuted. Of course the astrologically founded description of human personality does not base itself on the position of the sun only, however the latter does form a very essential part of the astrological evaluation of people. This, at any rate has been shown to be without any scientific basis. The fact that astrological evaluation of human personality is so popular nowadays can be explained by the fact that even modern people are inclined towards magical thinking.

  17. Filosofické základy hlubinné astrologie

    OpenAIRE

    Stehlíková, Miroslava

    2009-01-01

    The scope of this thesis is a philosophical ground of the astrology and its presence in hermetic treatises that became actual in the period of Renaissance when arose with the interest in Platonism and when the universal notion of the world and medicine became on demand. The thesis brings a scope of origination of the astrology put to the historical and philosophical perspective.

  18. Scientists Look at 2010: Carrying on Margaret Mayall's Legacy of Debunking Pseudoscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Krinstine

    2010-06-01

    In 1941 Margaret Mayall, the future director of the AAVSO, and Harvard colleague Bart Bok authored a critical study of astrology and its impact on society entitled "Scientists Look at Astrology." They chastised the scientific community for thinking the debunking of astrology to be "below the dignity of scientists." In contrast, they opined that it is one of the duties of scientists to "inform the public about the nature and background of a current fad, such as astrology, even though to do so may be unpleasant." Fast-forward 68 years in the future, and the astronomical community now faces a pseudoscientific enemy just as insidious as astrology, yet just as ignored by the general professional and amateur community as astrology had been when Mayall and Bok took up the charge in 1941. The pseudoscience in question is the well-publicized "prediction" that the Mayan calendar will end on December 21, 2012, causing the end of civilization in concert with one of a number of possible astronomical calamities, including (but not limited to) the gravitational pull of the center of the Milky Way (somehow enhanced by an "alignment" with our solar system), the near-approach by a mythical 10th planet (often named Nibiru), large-scale damage to the planet by solar flares larger than those ever recorded, or the shifting of the earth's axis of rotation (often confused with a proposed sudden and catastrophic reversal of the earth's magnetic polarity). As a scientific and educational organization, the AAVSO and its members have a responsibility to follow in Mayall's footsteps, shining the light of reason and knowledge on the dark corners of ignorance which far too often permeate the Internet, radio and television programming, and recent films, most notably 2012. This talk will highlight some of the basic premises of the 2012 hysteria and suggest ways that the AAVSO and its members can use variable stars and the history of the AAVSO to counteract some of the astronomical misinformation

  19. The Faces of Saturn: Images and Texts from Augustus through Dürer to Galileo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shank, M. H.

    2013-04-01

    This paper follows the thread(s) of Saturn in astrology and art from the Babylonians to Galileo, paying special attention to the planet's political importance from Augustus to the Medici and to its medical/psychological significance from Ficino through Dürer. In passing, I extend David Pingree's astrological interpretation of Dürer's Melencholia I and propose a very personal rationale for the engraving, namely as a memorial to his mother.

  20. The Form is the Substance: Classification of Genres in Text

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    particularly good discriminator for a horoscope genre, the fact that it is an astrological sign and appears with other terms deemed astrological may well be...denominator prior to taking logs.) A misclassification matrix example is shown in Table 3. The true genre tag is indicated by row and the classifier’s...classifiers and is true even for the Naïve Bayes classifier which does poorly with presentation features alone. Applying a threshold to the classifier output

  1. A astrologia como campo profissional em formação

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Venuto Adriana

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available The article studies the process of institutionalization of the profession of astrologer, based on an analysis of the struggle of different professional groups to legitimize new ways of thinking and of organizing their field. Two groups have stood out: the modern group, whose proposal for the field is based on the organizational model of modern professions, and the elite group, which seeks to revert to a traditional professional model. Research was conducted among "professional" astrologers in the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. Those to be interviewed were initially selected from specialized newspapers and then, once groups had been mapped, the intentional sampling method was applied. The article endeavors to understand if and how these astrologers are creating strategies for their participation in the professional field and what institutional mechanisms have contributed towards creation of a unified cognitive base that will allow these ?professionals? to exercise exclusive control over a given domain of expertise.

  2. La Urŷūza de Ibn Abī l-Riŷāl y su comentario por Ibn Qunfuḏ: astrología e historia en el Magrib en los siglos XI y XIV (I

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samsó, Julio

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available A quick revision of the available information on the life and works of Ibn Abī l-Rijāl (fl. Tunis ca. 996-1048 and an analysis of the contents of his Urjūza fī aḥkām al-nuŷūm which are compared to those of his better known Kitāb al- Barī‘ fī aḥkām al-nujūm. The conclusion is that both works are independent and that the Urjūza is not a summary of the Barī‘. The paper continues with biobibliographical data of the historian, mathematician and astrologer Ibn Qunfudh al-Qusanṭīnī (1339-1407, who is the author of a commentary of Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Urjūza dedicated to Abū Bakr b. Abī Mujāhid Gazī Ibn al-Kās, vizier of the Merinid sultans Abū Fāris (1366-1372 and Abū Zayyān (1372-1374. The work was probably written during the latter’s brief reign and before 1375, the date in which the dedicatee was exiled to Majorca. The work continues with an analysis of the contents of the commentary, the sources quoted, the astrological techniques used both by Ibn Qunfudh and by Ibn Abī l-Rijāl, and the use by the commentator of a set of astronomical tables derived from the zīj of Ibn Isḥāq. We find, finally, a detailed commentary of the horoscopes contained in Ibn Qunfudh’s work which includes one corresponding to the vernal equinox of the year 571 AD, in which there was a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter which announced the arrival of Islam. There are eleven more horoscopes (two of them published previously which constitute an astrological history of Merinid Morocco between 1348 and 1366. Concerning the nine horoscopes analysed here, in six of them it has been possible to identify the subject or the event motivating the prediction, while three remain unidentified.

    Tras una rápida revisión de los escasos datos conocidos sobre la vida y la obra de Ibn Abī l-Riŷāl (fl. Túnez c. 996-1048, se analiza el contenido de su Urŷūza fī aḥkām al-nuŷūm compar

  3. Astronomy and Politics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, John M.

    The relationship between astronomy and politics is a complex but important part of understanding the practice of astronomy throughout history. This chapter explores some of the ways that astronomy, astrology, and politics have interacted, placing particular focus on the way that astronomy and astrology have been used for political purposes by both people in power and people who wish to influence a ruler's policy. Also discussed are the effects that politics has had on the development of astronomy and, in particular, upon the recording and preservation of astronomical knowledge.

  4. Observation of Celestial Phenomena in Ancient China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Xiaochun

    Because of the need for calendar-making and portent astrology, the Chinese were diligent and meticulous observers of celestial phenomena. China has maintained the longest continuous historical records of celestial phenomena in the world. Extraordinary or abnormal celestial events were particularly noted because of their astrological significance. The historical records cover various types of celestial phenomena, which include solar and lunar eclipses, sunspots, "guest stars" (novae or supernovae as we understand today), comets and meteors, and all kinds of planetary phenomena. These records provide valuable historical data for astronomical studies today.

  5. Dos textos astrológicos conservados en el comentario al Sefer Yeṣirá de Yehudá ben Barzilay al-Bargeloní

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sela, Shlomo

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The main object of this article is to translate, scrutinize the contents and reveal the sources of two Hebrew astrological texts embedded in the commentary on Sefer Yeṣirah composed by Yehudah ben Barzilay, the leading Rabbinic authority in Barcelona in the first half of the 12th century. The first text arises great interest because it incorporates the first ever known horoscopic chart written in Hebrew. The second text includes a miscellany of cosmological and astrological theories. The analysis of both fragments reveals the reception of astrological texts by Jewish intellectuals in the Iberian Peninsula. In contrast with Abraham bar Ḥiyya and Abraham Ibn 'Ezra, who epitomize a renovating trend couching into a Hebrew mold various aspects of Greek and Arabic science, Ben Barzilay embodies a conservative trend which exclusively relies on Jewish astrological and scientific sources.Este artículo tiene como principal propósito traducir, estudiar los contenidos y descubrir las fuentes de dos textos astrológicos hebreos conservados en el comentario al Sefer Yeṣirá de Yehudá ben Barzilay, la principal autoridad rabínica de Barcelona en las primeras décadas del siglo XII. El primer texto despierta gran interés porque incorpora el primer horóscopo documentado escrito en lengua hebrea conocido. El segundo texto incorpora una miscelánea de teorías cosmológicas y astrológicas. El análisis de ambos fragmentos revela un caso especial de recepción de fuentes astrológicas y científicas por intelectuales judíos en la península Ibérica. En claro contraste con Abraham bar Ḥiyya y Abraham Ibn 'Ezra, que encarnan una corriente renovadora orientada a verter al hebreo diversos aspectos de la astrología y ciencia griega y árabe, Yehudá ben Barzilay representa una modalidad conservadora inclinada a la utilización de fuentes astrológicas y científicas de autores exclusivamente judíos.

  6. El capítulo sobre el Tasyīr en al-Bāriʻ de Ibn Abī-l-Riŷāl y su traducción alfonsí

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Díaz-Fajardo, Montse

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Tasyīr or “prorogation”, is an astrological procedure with which the astrologer moves, in an imaginary way, an indicator in order to determine the celestial influences. Tasyīr was one of the astrologer’s fundamental tools for the casting of a horoscope. This paper analyzes the information in the chapter on Tasyīr in Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s (11th century book al-Bāri‘, concerning the methods, the techniques and the resources used. Its study highlights the channels through which science was transmitted and the ways in which the astrologer wrote his work using other sources, and stresses the importance of al-Bāri‘ in introducing new astrological knowledge from the East into the Maghrib and medieval Europe (knowledge that was used until the fifteenth century. The comparison of the chapter with its Castilian translation provides evidence of the procedures used by the translators of Alfonso X.El tasyīr o «prorrogación» es un procedimiento astrológico por el que se hace avanzar de forma imaginaria un indicador para conocer las influencias celestes. El tasyīr fue una de las herramientas fundamentales del astrólogo en el levantamiento de un horóscopo. Este artículo analiza la información que contiene el capítulo “Sobre el tasyīr” de la obra al-Bāri‘ de Ibn Abī-l-Riŷāl (siglo XI: los métodos, las técnicas y los recursos que utilizaba. Su estudio nos muestra las vías por las que la ciencia se transmitía, el modo en el que el astrólogo elaboraba su obra, la importancia del al-Bāri‘ como introductor en el Magreb y en la Europa medieval de fuentes y conocimientos nuevos importados de Oriente y la vigencia de su astrología hasta el siglo XV. El cotejo del capítulo mencionado con su traducción castellana nos da pruebas de la forma de trabajar de los traductores de Alfonso X.

  7. Ancient Persian Skywatching and Calendars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sołtysiak, Arkadiusz

    The peoples of Iran used lunisolar calendars until the early fifth century BCE when the 365-day calendar with 30 months and 5 epagomenal days was introduced. This calendar was not corrected to the actual length of the tropical year, and therefore, seasonal festivals gradually moved away from their seasons. Finally, around the turn of the fifth century CE, a partially successful calendar reform was undertaken, and the feasts were restored to their original seasons. In that time, Sasanian kings were interested in astrology, and some Greek and Hindu astrological texts were translated into Persian, but there is no evidence of indigenous contributions to skywatching.

  8. The Church of the Deans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ezio Albrile

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The article investigates the ways through which peculiar representations of the late Ancient World passed to the Middle Ages. Among them, the astrological discipline is one of the favorite vehicles. The sculptures and other decorations of the Romanesque churches, have rewritten this archaic knowledge in the context of the Christian faith. Another constant presence in the imaginary of Western Christianity are the fabulous creatures related to what in astrology are the Decans. These odd Egyptian deities had at some time before the sixth century of our era made the long voyage to India and back they had travelled to Islamic lands, and so finally returned to Byzantium and the West.

  9. The Sanskrit and Arabic Sources of the Praśnatantra Attributed to Nīlakaṇṭha

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Gansten

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The highly popular Praśnatantra attributed to Nīlakaṇṭha of Kāśī (fl. late 16th century and sometimes regarded as the third volume of his Tājikanīlakaṇṭhī is shown to depend for its basic structure on an abridged Sanskrit version of the Kitāb fi l-masāʾil wa-l-aḥkām by Sahl ibn Bishr (early 9th century, apparently authored by Samarasiṃha in the 13th century, to which quotations primarily from Sanskrit astrological works in the classical Indian style have been added, resulting in a hybrid of Indian and Perso-Arabic interrogational astrology.

  10. [SCIENCE AND DREAMS IN THE MIDDLE AGES: IL "DE SOMNIIS" DI BOEZIO DI DACIA].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feti, Viola

    2015-01-01

    Boethius of Dacia's opera "De somnis" can be defined as a brief treaty that partially follows the traditional quaestio scheme. It includes a passage that seems to copy Etienne Tempier's proposition number sixty-five, which condemns the importance attributed to astrology by many medieval authors. Boethius moves off Aristotle's "De somno et vigilia" idea of physiological dreams to assert a new kind of oneiric phenomena linked to constellations, that, according to the author, aren't divinely inspired, whereas they are to be considered as natural events. Boethius isn't the only philosopher who writes about this particular type of dream as another medieval author, Albertus Magnus, in his "Speculum Astronomiae", describes astrology and its relationship to medicine.

  11. The Discovery of the Regular Movements of Celestial Bodies and the Development of Monotheism in the Ancient Near East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanfranchi, G. B.

    2011-06-01

    For Ancient Mesopotamians, astronomical phenomena were signs signifying the gods' judgment on human behaviour. Mesopotamian scholars studied celestial phenomena for understanding the gods' will, and strongly developed astrology. From the 8th to the 6th century BC Assyrian and Babylonian astronomers achieved the ability to predict solar and lunar eclipses, and the planets' movements through mathematical calculations. Predictability of astral phenomena solicited the awareness that they are all regular, and that the universe is governed by an eternal, immutable order fixed at its very beginning. This finally favoured the idea that the cosmic order depended on the will of one god only, displacing polytheism in favour of monotheism; and astrology lost its religious importance as a mean to know the divine will.

  12. Philippus Feselius - Biographical notes on the unknown medicus of Kepler's Tertius Interveniens. (German Title: Philippus Feselius - Biographische Notizen zum unbekannten Medicus aus Keplers Tertius Interveniens)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenke, Nils; Roudet, Nicolas

    Until now, Philipp Feselius has been perceived only indirectly as Kepler's antagonist. Not much is known about his life besides his work as Baden private physician and his book against astrology which was cited intensely in Kepler's «Tertius Interveniens». This paper traces the stations of his career as a physician, about his presumable provenance and education in Strasbourg, his academic career in Tübingen, Strasbourg, Rostock and Padua, the doctorate in Basel in 1592, up to his employment, in 1599, as a court physician in Sulzburg and later in Durlach. Further hand-written and printed traces of Feselius are presented, and his social environment is investigated so that his personality becomes clearer, and relations can be established between his education and his writing against astrology.

  13. The art and science of prognostication in early university medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demaitre, Luke

    2003-01-01

    Prognosis occupied a more prominent place in the medieval curriculum than it does at the modern university. Scholastic discussions were rooted in the Hippocratic Aphorisms and shaped by Galen's treatises On Crisis and On Critical Days. Medical prediction, as an art dependent on personal skills such as memory and conjecture, was taught with the aid of the liberal arts of rhetoric and logic. Scientific predictability was sought in branches of mathematics, moving from periodicity and numerology to astronomy. The search for certitude contributed to the cultivation of astrology; even at its peak, however, astrological medicine did not dominate the teaching on prognostication. The ultimate concern, which awaits further discussion, was not even with forecasting as such, but with the physician and, indeed, the patient.

  14. Johannes Kepler on Christmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, Martin

    2009-12-01

    Kepler's interpretation of the supernova of 1604, De Stella Nova, interwove the science of astronomy with astrology and theology in an attempt to determine the correct birthdate of Jesus, explains Martin Kemp.

  15. Erzherzog Ferdinand II., Astrologie und das Lustschloss Hvězda (Stern)

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Purš, Ivo

    -, č. 14 (2014), s. 15-29 ISSN 1213-5372 Institutional support: RVO:68378033 Keywords : astrology * iconography * archduke Ferdinand of Tirol * Star (Hvězda) villa Subject RIV: AL - Art, Architecture, Cultural Heritage

  16. Transmission of Babylonian Astronomy to Other Cultures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Alexander

    Babylonian astronomy and astrology were extensively transmitted to other civilizations in the second and first millennia BC. Greek astronomy in particular was largely shaped by knowledge of Babylonian observations and mathematical astronomy.

  17. Balbillus and the Method of aphesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Gansten

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The standard interpretation of two early horoscopes, attributed to Balbillus, can be corrected on the basis of both textual evidence and Balbillus’ astrological methods concerning the prediction of life-span.

  18. The Ptolemaic View of the Universe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wolfgang Hübner

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Ptolemy, as part of his account of the universe, applied the established principles of astrology in arriving at a systematic characterization of the different regions and peoples of the earth.

  19. Questio astronomicalis Zdeňka z Labouně: kritická edice

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kocánová, Barbora

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 139, 1/2 (2016), s. 123-165 ISSN 0024-4457 Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : astronomy * astrology * meteorology * quaestio * quodlibet * critical edition * Zdeněk of Labouň Subject RIV: AB - History

  20. Non-Reflective Thinkers Are Predisposed to Attribute Supernatural Causation to Uncanny Experiences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouvet, Romain; Bonnefon, Jean-François

    2015-07-01

    For unknown reasons, individuals who are confident in their intuitions are more likely to hold supernatural beliefs. How does an intuitive cognitive style lead one to believe in faith healing, astrology, or extrasensory perception (ESP)? We hypothesize that cognitive style is critically important after one experiences an uncanny event that seems to invite a supernatural explanation. In three studies, we show that irrespective of their prior beliefs in the supernatural, non-reflective thinkers are more likely than reflective thinkers to accept supernatural causation after an uncanny encounter with astrology and ESP. This is the first time that controlled experiments demonstrate the negative dynamics of reflection and supernatural causality attribution. We consider the possible generalization of our findings to religious beliefs and their implications for the social vulnerability of non-reflective individuals. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  1. Cafer es-Sadık'ın Eserleri

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Atalan

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Jajar al-Sadiq who is the 6th Shi 'ite Imamiyyah seems as an important figure in the early years of the second century when Abbasid received the diagnasty from the Umeyye. The works mention Jafar al-Sadiq’s studies. Same mysterious sciences as Astrology. cefr; augury, talisman, chemistry, magic, and extra ordinary abilities have been referred to Jafar al-Sadiq. Many of these works are avaible as published and hand written in Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul. The works except Kitab al-Tawhid are works which been referred to Jafar al-Sadiq. This works are the errors stemming from the name of Jafar b. Mohammed. The attribution of the sciences such as astrology, cefr, augury, talisman, chemistry and magic to Jafar al-Sadiq aren 't right and they are far from the scientific truth

  2. The Paranormal: A Selected Bibliography of Serials and Reference Works, with Commentary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Charles H.

    1997-01-01

    Provides bibliography of references and serials to assist acquisitions librarians in selection of the paranormal. Topics include alchemy, astrology, magic, conjuring, witchcraft, paganism, demonology, satanism, voodooism, sorcery, cults, shamanism, UFOs, exobiology, curious physical and biological phenomena, ghosts, poltergeists, haunted places,…

  3. An eleventh-century Egyptian guide to the universe the book of curiosities

    CERN Document Server

    Rapoport, Yossef

    2013-01-01

    The Book of Curiosities is an eleventh-century Arabic account of the heavens and the Earth, illustrated by remarkable maps and astronomical diagrams. This authoritative edition and translation opens a unique window onto the geographical and astrological knowledge of medieval Islam.

  4. The Ninth-Century Renaissance in Astronomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrell, Charlotte

    1996-01-01

    Discusses the events in the ninth century that moved astronomy away from the pursuit of mystical hermetic sciences and astrology back toward observation and measurement. Describes the achievements of astronomers and the instruments and calculations used during that period. (JRH)

  5. Kepler and the Star of Bethlehem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Rahlf

    Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a famous astronomer. But like other astronomers he had a problem to find work that would guarantee a regular income. So he was lucky to get work as "Styrian landscape mathematician" in Graz. One of his tasks was to write an annual calendar of weather forecasts and policital developments on the basis of astrological facts. He correctly predicted a conflict with the Osmanic Empire, although it is not clear whether the stars or the newspapers were the cause for that. Both his horoscope for Wallenstein and his book "Warnung an die Gegner der Astrologie" are well known. Kepler believed in some aspects of astrology, the influence of the planets for example. He deduced this front his ideas about physics. He neglected other aspects of astrology. e.g. the significance of the zodiac. In 1604 Kepler observed a new star and believed in a connection to a special and very rare planetary conjunction. After a Jupiter-Saturn-conjunction Jupiter met Mars. Kepler speculated that the star of Bethlehem might be a new star which was generated after a similar conjunction and recalculated it for 6/7 BC. Nowadays examples of both astronomical (and astrological) interpretations of the star of Bethlehem exist. The best known is the three time conjunction of 6/7 BC. But the interpretation of Martin (1980) for 213 BC seems equally excellent. Vardaman (1989) takes the Halley comet of 12 BC to be the star of Bethlehem. Other speculations arise from two Novae in the years 5 and 4 BC, tabulated in sources from the Far East. But historians tell us that there is no need fo a real star. The text in Matthew, book 2 is a legend. What is important in regard to the understanding of the star of Bethlehem is the "sidus Julium" the comet which could be seen in the sky during Caesar's funeral and the match of the King of Armenia Tiridates to Nero in Rome during. There was no real star over Bethlehem. All we have are interesting speculations, like those by Kepler.

  6. The Impact of Zodiac Signs on Human Nature and Fate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gasparyan, Naira

    2015-07-01

    Horoscope signs have unavoidable impact on human behaviour and interests, health and even fate. Moreover, intermingled with the impact of planets they become a powerful force able to bring about unbelievable changes. The investigation reveals that horoscopes have existed in the Armenian reality since ancient times. The most striking fact about their eistence is that in order to have and use zodiak signs in one's national culture, the nation should first of all have sufficient knowledge in Astrological Sciences since the system of zodiak signs has a direct reference to the cognitive processes and scientific knowledge of the universe, astrological issues and sometimes even there is a hint on hidden signs and messages. Anania Shirakatsi, one of the learned Armenians, had to display much diplomacy with the Armenian Church and religion when discussing the topic in his manuscripts. His observations are still of much importance and vitality even today.

  7. Hvad er forskning? Normer, videnskab og samfund.

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    forskningsvurdering. Hugo F. Alrøe og Egon Noe: Et perspektivisk blik på videnskabelig uenighed og ekspertise. Cathrine Hasse: Forskerens læreproces - et kritisk, realistisk perspektiv. David Favrholdt: Om viden og videnskab. Jens Hebor: Demarkationsproblemet. Jan Faye: Hvordan adskilles astronomi fra astrologi? Finn...

  8. A view in the mirror - Or through the looking glass. [history of development of optical telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinel, A. B.; Meinel, M. P.

    1986-01-01

    The development of optical telescopes from the age of astrology to those of today and the future is discussed. The rationales for changes in the design of telescopes during this time are explored. The cost drivers, and how to reduce them, are also discussed.

  9. A Skeptic's Bookshelf: Scientific Responses to Pseudoscience. An Annotated Bibliography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, Andrew

    1984-01-01

    Lists nontechnical books and articles on the various claims of "paranormal" events. Includes general references and materials on: astrology; unidentified flying objects (UFO's); ancient astronauts; lunacy and the moon; Velikovsky and "Worlds in Collision"; the Bermuda triangle; Sirius B and the Dogon; the Tunguska event; creationism; and…

  10. Bruno's Spaccio and Hyginus' Poetica Astronomica

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Catana, Leo

    2000-01-01

    The narrative framework of Giordano Bruno’s dialogue Lo spaccio de la bestia trionfante was inspired by Lucian of Samosata and his dialogue The Parliament of the Gods. In this article it is argued that Bruno, within that framework, developed an abundant imagery of astrological constellations insp...

  11. Leksikon over ordbøger og leksika

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pálfi, Loránd-Levente

    Findes der en dansk-mongolsk ordbog? Eller en dansk-swahili ordbog? Hvilke sprog findes der i det hele taget danske ordbøger for? Og hvilke opslagsværker findes der på dansk om astrologi, astronomi, biologi, filosofi, fluebinding, fysik, historie, islam, kristendom, krydsord, matematik, okkultisme...

  12. Greek and Roman Mythology: English, Mythology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hargraves, Richard; Kenzel, Elaine

    The aim of the Quinmester course "Greek and Roman Mythology" is to help students understand mythological references in literature, art, music, science and technology. The subject matter includes: creation myths; myths of gods and heroes; mythological allusions in astrology, astronomy, literature, science, business, puzzles, and everyday…

  13. The Relations between Astronomy and Music in Medieval Armenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vardumyan, Arpi

    2015-07-01

    In Middle Ages Astronomy and Music were included in the four sciences, together with Mathematics and Geometry. From ancient times philosophers thought that harmony lies in the basis of world creation. The Earth was in the centre of the Universe, and the seven planets went around it, the Sun and the Moon in their number. Harmony was also in the basis of music, with seven sounds due to seven planets. It was considered that owing to harmonic rotation cosmic universal music appears, and it is not attainable for human ear as it is used to it. Medieval connoisseurs of music therapy believed that for healing a person his astrological data must first be cleared out, in order to define in which musical mode should sound the melody in order to treat him/her. Comparing music with astrology they considered easier to practise the first one because the celestial luminaries are much higher and farther from people.

  14. Small Schools in Rural India: "Exclusion" and "Inequity" in Hierarchical School System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diwan, Rashmi

    2015-01-01

    Small schools have enjoyed rich traditions in the history of education. The Vedic-age gurukula small schools, an abode for children of the privileged few, followed a structured curriculum in the teaching of religion, scriptures, philosophy, literature, warfare, medicine, astrology and history. The rigvedic small schools, which were more…

  15. Pseudohistory and Pseudoscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allchin, Douglas

    2004-01-01

    The dangers of pseudoscience--parapsychology, astrology,creationism, etc.--are widely criticized. Lessons in the history of science are often viewed as an educational remedy by conveying the nature of science. But such histories can be flawed. In particular, many stories romanticize scientists, inflate the drama of their discoveries,and…

  16. Studies in the History of Astronomy. Issue 32 %t Istoriko-Astronomicheskie Issledovaniya. Vypusk XXXII

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idlis, G. M.

    This collection contains papers covering a wide scope of problems in the history of astronomy. Its basic headlines are: Cosmology and cosmogony of the 20th century; History of observations and astronomical organizations; Scientists and their works; Astronomy and society; Publications and memoirs; Astronomy and astrology; Memory of scientists

  17. Democratic Nation Building in the Arc of Crisis: The Case of the Presidential Election in Afghanistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-01-01

    astrologer waiting for loaves of bread at a bakery in Qalat, know that the new Afghan Constitution allows them full personal rights. But he still says he must...of nearly all development indices, has no extended tradition of uni- versal franchise , and has experienced almost a quarter century of continual

  18. Calendarium Pragense Cod.lat. 555 der Széchényi-Nationalbibliothek in Budapest

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Studničková, Milada

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 39, 1/2 (2013), s. 195-201 ISSN 0133-1531 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-39192S; GA AV ČR IAA8033202 Institutional support: RVO:68378033 Keywords : illuminated manuscript * calendar * Zodiac-Signs * astrology * Martyrology Workshop * Orationale Rosenbergense Subject RIV: AL - Art, Architecture, Cultural Heritage

  19. The Influence of Education Major: How Diverse Preservice Teachers View Pseudoscience Topics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Losh, Susan Carol; Nzekwe, Brandon

    2011-01-01

    Pseudoscience beliefs (e.g., astrology, ghosts or UFOs) are rife in American society. Most research examines creation/evolution among liberal arts majors, general public adults, or, infrequently, middle or high school science teachers. Thus, research truncates the "range" of ersatz science thinking and the samples it studies. We examined diverse…

  20. Tycho Brahe, Abū Ma‘shar, and the Comet beyond Venus (Ninth Century A.D.)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Neuhäuser, Ralph; Kunitzsch, Paul; Mugrauer, Markus; Luge, Daniela; van Gent, R.H.

    From his observations of the A.D. 1572 supernova and the A.D. 1577 comet, Tycho Brahe concluded that such transient celestial objects are outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and he quoted the ninth century A.D. Persian astrologer and astronomer Abū Macshar: Dixit Albumasar, Cometa supra Venerem visus

  1. Empirically Based Myths: Astrology, Biorhythms, and ATIs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragsdale, Ronald G.

    1980-01-01

    A myth may have an empirical basis through chance occurrence; perhaps Aptitude Treatment Interactions (ATIs) are in this category. While ATIs have great utility in describing, planning, and implementing instruction, few disordinal interactions have been found. Article suggests narrowing of ATI research with replications and estimates of effect…

  2. Psychic Powers, Astrology & Creationism in the Classroom?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eve, Raymond A.; Dunn, Dana

    1990-01-01

    Examined is the extent to which teachers actually hold pseudoscientific beliefs. Described are the study design, sources of pseudoscientific belief, and correlates with various types of pseudoscientific beliefs. Results indicate that many high school biology and life science teachers endorse these beliefs. Implications of this study are discussed.…

  3. Astrology and Astronomy:From Conjunction to Opposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunth, D.

    2009-02-01

    A theory is not some hunch, or half-baked idea that you come up with while taking a shower, or being under the influence of something or other. A theory, as scientists understand the meaning of the word, is a scientifically tested principle or body of principles that incorporates and explains a significant body of evidence.

  4. R-ES-ONANCE--INov-em--be-r

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Thanks to the ill-conceived move by the. UGC (around May 2001) to introduce astrology courses in Indian universities, this wonderful little book has been rescued from the obscurity that it might have otherwise lapsed into. If only it had received more prominence earlier, Balachandra Rao's book would have done more to ...

  5. Magnetized Water: Science or Fraud?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamora, L. Lahuerta; Anton-Fos, G. M.; Aleman Lopez, P. A.; Martin Algarra, R. V.

    2008-01-01

    Skepticism is one of the cornerstones of scientific learning. Some pseudosciences in domains such as astronomy or pharmacy use a host of issues in everyday life as pretexts for work in the classroom (e.g., astrology) or laboratory (e.g., homeopathy). Chemistry also offers opportunities to promote skeptical thinking in students. Commercial devices…

  6. Medicina e política em dois físicos judeus portugueses de Hamburgo: Rodrigo de Castro e o Medicus Politicus (1614, e Manuel Bocarro Rosales e o Status Astrologicus (1644

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neves Silva, Sandra

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Since the end of the sixteenth century the Hanseatic city of Hamburg received a group of impostant Portuguese physicians that became members of its Iberian Jewish community. This article examines the intellectual contribution and the political implications of two of them, Rodrigo de Castro (1546-1627, who authored an important book on gynaecology, and Manuel Bocarro Rosales (ca. 1588-1662/8?, who wrote different astrological and astronomical works with a messianic-political content.Desde fines del siglo XVI Hamburgo recibió una constelación de distinguidos médicos portugueses que se integran dentro de la comunidad judía de origen ibérico. En este artículo se examina la contribución intelectual y las implicaciones políticas de las obras de dos de ellos, Rodrigo de Castro (1546-1627, autor de un importante tratado ginecológico, y Manuel Bocarro Rosales (ca. 1588-1662/8?, que escribe varias obras sobre astronomía y astrología de contenido político-mesiánico.

  7. Casebooks in Early Modern England:

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassell, Lauren

    2014-01-01

    summary Casebooks are the richest sources that we have for encounters between early modern medical practitioners and their patients. This article compares astrological and medical records across two centuries, focused on England, and charts developments in the ways in which practitioners kept records and reflected on their practices. Astrologers had a long history of working from particular moments, stellar configurations, and events to general rules. These practices required systematic notation. Physicians increasingly modeled themselves on Hippocrates, recording details of cases as the basis for reasoned expositions of the histories of disease. Medical records, as other scholars have demonstrated, shaped the production of medical knowledge. Instead, this article focuses on the nature of casebooks as artifacts of the medical encounter. It establishes that casebooks were serial records of practice, akin to diaries, testimonials, and registers; identifies extant English casebooks and the practices that led to their production and preservation; and concludes that the processes of writing, ordering, and preserving medical records are as important for understanding the medical encounter as the records themselves. PMID:25557513

  8. Birthdate psychology: a new look at some old data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellegrini, R J

    1975-03-01

    This brief note deals with the development of alternative perspectives on the provocative, and as yet unexplained result of an earlier study in which groups of people born under different astrological zodiac signs were found to differ markedly in their scores on the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) scale described as a measure of "Femininity." Attention is focused on (a) discrepancies between the observed pattern of high and low scores on the CPI Femininity scale, and classification of sun signs as "masculine" or "feminine" by astrologers; (b) the trend in the data indicating that the six sun sign categories for which the highest scores were obtained on the Femininity scale correspond to birthdates running continuously from July 24 to January 20, while the six sun sign categories for which the lowest scores were obtained on that scale correspond to birthdates running continuously from January 21 to July 23; and (c) speculative consideration of the kinds of climatic, dietary, and/or cyclical geomagnetic events that might affect reproduction and prenatal and/or neonatal development in such a way as to influence adult personality.

  9. Dee, John (1527-1608)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdin, P.

    2000-11-01

    Navigator, mathematician, traveler, polymath, mystic, charlatan, astrologer, model for Shakespeare's Prospero and King Lear, and court intriguer. Born in London, he became a navigation instructor, applying Euclidean geometry to navigation and building the instruments to do so. He advised expeditions seeking the Northwest passage to the Pacific via Canada. He cast horoscopes for Elizabeth I, recei...

  10. Historical horoscopes as a source of the history of science. (German Title: Historische Horoskope als Quelle der Wissenschaftsgeschichte)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oestmann, Günther

    The paper deals with the analysis and interpretation of historic horoscopes. The astrological activities of Count Heinrich Rantzau (1526-1598), Danish Governor of Schleswig-Holstein, who was one of the leading representatives of humanistic learning and culture in the 16th century, have been taken as an example. He corresponded with numerous scholars and was a friend of Tycho Brahe.

  11. Campanella, Tommaso [Giovan Domenico] (1568-1639)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdin, P.

    2000-11-01

    Born in Stilo, Calabria, Italy. A Dominican, he wrote on Telesian philosophy and astrology, and cast flattering horoscopes for the influential. A great admirer of Galileo, in 1622 he published his Apologia pro Galileo (`Defense of Galileo'), defending the Copernican system and the separate paths of scripture and nature to knowledge of the Creator. He adopted an animistic, yet empirical, interpret...

  12. Astrology in Introductory Astronomy Courses for Nonscience Specialists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeilik, Michael, II

    1973-01-01

    Discusses the use of a horoscope-casting laboratory exercise in the astronomy course. Indicates that students can fulfill three objectives: (1) summarize the planetary motions in the geometric universe, (2) be familiar with sidereal and solar time, and (3) be acquainted with the uses ephemerides. (CC)

  13. Dante, astrología y astronomía

    OpenAIRE

    Gangui, Alejandro

    2017-01-01

    En este artículo, los versos de Dante Alighieri nos llevan a reflexionar acerca de los diferentes métodos -cada vez más divergentes- con los que la ciencia y las creencias se aproximan a la realidad. Fil: Gangui, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Físi...

  14. Kepler's cosmological synthesis astrology, mechanism and the soul

    CERN Document Server

    Boner, Patrick J

    2013-01-01

    Spanning the course of his career, this book brings new light to Kepler's vitalistic views and their central place in his world picture. It challenges our view of Kepler as a nascent mechanical philosopher who fell back on an older form of physics.

  15. The Gate of Heaven: Revisiting Roman Mithraic Cosmology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assasi, R.

    2016-01-01

    The definition and origins of Roman Mithraism remain highly problematic and controversial among modern scholars. The majority of research on Roman Mithraism focuses on interpreting the physical evidence because no considerable written narratives or theology from the religion survive. The most important Mithraic artifact is a repeated bull-slaying scene, which leaves no doubt that this figure conveys the core divine message of the cult. There is also another important Mithraic character that seems to be as important as the bull-slayer. This figure is a lion-headed man entwined by a snake. The author suggests that these figures represent the north ecliptic pole and argues for the importance of this astronomical reference in the Mithraic iconography and mythology. The author also demonstrates the possible relation of his proposed astrological model to the geocentric understanding of the axial precession around the ecliptic pole, where the Roman bull-slaying Mithras could be visualized in the form of a Mithraic constellation. This astrological model also is proposed to be the architectural design concept of Roman Mithraeum. The author also points to the core Christian symbols as possible contemporaneous parallels or derivatives of the Mithraic iconography and theology.

  16. Yunus, Abu'l-Hasan ibn (950-1009)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdin, P.

    2000-11-01

    Astronomer, born in Egypt, calculated trigonometric functions for use in astronomy and wrote an astronomical handbook, al-Zij al-Hakimi al-kabir, the Great Tables of Caliph al-Hakim, which contained observations made by Yunus, including 30 lunar eclipses used by SIMON NEWCOMB in his lunar theory. Yunus was also an astrologer, predicting the date of his own death in seven days' time. He made prepa...

  17. The Astral Curved Disc of Chevroches (France)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devevey, F. Rousseau, A.

    2009-08-01

    The excavation of the unexplored secondary agglomeration in Chevroches (Nièvre), from 2001 to 2002, directed by F. Devevey (INRAP), has led to the discovery of an astrological bronze curved disc of a type unknown in the ancient world; it is inscribed with three lines in Greek transcribing Egyptian an Roman months, and the twelve signs of the zodiac. This article presents the first observations.

  18. Nostradamus (1503-66)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdin, P.

    2000-11-01

    Doctor, astrologer, born in St Rémy, France. Took on the role of a prophet and wrote Centuries, a collection of predictions in rhyme (1555-8). The predictions are expressed in obscure and enigmatic terms, which are both difficult to interpret and open to many interpretations, and so can be interpreted as successful prophesies, including what Catherine of Medici interpreted as the manner of deat...

  19. Comment on "Astronomical alignments as the cause of ~M6+ seismicity"

    OpenAIRE

    Zanette, Damian H.

    2011-01-01

    It is shown that, according to the criteria used by M. Omerbashich (arXiv:1104.2036v4 [physics.gen-ph]), during 2010 the Earth was aligned with at least one pair of planets some 98.6% of the time. This firmly supports Omerbashich's claim that 2010 strongest earthquakes occurred during such astronomical alignments. On this basis, we argue that seismicity is, generally, a phenomenon of astrological origin.

  20. Modern health worries - the dark side of spirituality?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Köteles, Ferenc; Simor, Péter; Czető, Márton; Sárog, Noémi; Szemerszky, Renáta

    2016-08-01

    Modern health worries (MHWs) are widespread in modern societies. MHWs were connected to both negative and positive psychological characteristics in previous studies. The study aimed to investigate the relationships among intuitive-experiential information processing style, spirituality, MHWs, and psychological well-being. Members of the Hungarian Skeptic Society (N = 128), individuals committed to astrology (N = 601), and people from a non-representative community sample (N = 554) completed questionnaires assessing intuitive-experiential information processing style, spirituality, modern health worries (MHWs), and psychological well-being. Astrologers showed higher levels of spirituality, intuitive-experiential thinking, and modern health worries than individuals from the community sample; and skeptics scored even lower than the latter group with respect to all three constructs. Within the community sample, medium level connections between measures of spirituality and the experiential thinking style, and weak to medium level correlations between spirituality and MHWs were found. The connection between MHWs and experiential thinking style was completely mediated by spirituality. Individuals with higher levels of spirituality are particularly vulnerable to overgeneralized messages on health related risks. Official communication of potential risks based on rational scientific reasoning is not appropriate to persuade them as it has no impact on the intuitive-experiential system. © 2016 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Chinese records of the 1874 transit of Venus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Lingfeng; Li, Huifang

    2013-03-01

    Before the advent of radar, transits of Venus were very important for measuring the distance between the Earth and the Sun. A transit occurred in 1874, and was visible from China, other parts of east and southeast Asia and from India, Australia and New Zealand and certain islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. As a result, many astronomers from Western countries came to China to observe it. According to traditional Chinese astrology, the Sun represented the Emperor, and if the Sun was invaded by other astronomical bodies it meant that the Emperor and the country faced some ominous disaster. In the late nineteenth century, Western astronomical knowledge was widely translated into Chinese and spread among Chinese intellectuals, so the 1874 transit supposedly was easily understood by Chinese intellectuals. Before the transit took place, various Chinese publications introduced this kind of celestial event as science news, but at the same time other influential newspapers and journals discussed the astrological connection between the transit and the fortunes of the nation. In this paper we review these interesting Chinese records and discuss the different attitudes towards the transit exhibited by Chinese intellectuals and officials, during a period when Western learning was being widely disseminated throughout China.

  2. The Ptolemaen Musica. Introduction, Russian translation and notes

    OpenAIRE

    Lyudmila V. Alexandrova

    2012-01-01

    An often neglected small treatise, conventionally entitled The Ptolemaean ‘Musica’ (apparently dated to the Late Antiquity), is translated into the Russian for the first time. The work is a compilation of various sources, which include the Aristoxenian rhythmics, the Neopythagorean numerology and harmonics as well as the Ptolemaean geocentric astrology. According to its author the planetary cycles in their unity are closely related to the musical proportions. This approach further allows corr...

  3. Ideas of Physical Forces and Differential Calculus in Ancient India

    OpenAIRE

    Girish, T. E.; Nair, C. Radhakrishnan

    2010-01-01

    We have studied the context and development of the ideas of physical forces and differential calculus in ancient India by studying relevant literature related to both astrology and astronomy since pre-Greek periods. The concept of Naisargika Bala (natural force) discussed in Hora texts from India is defined to be proportional to planetary size and inversely related to planetary distance. This idea developed several centuries prior to Isaac Newton resembles fundamental physical forces in natur...

  4. An Ongoing Investigation of Science Literacy: Results of a 22-Year Study Probing Students' Knowledge and Attitude Towards Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Impey, C.; Buxner, S.; Antonellis, J.; CATS

    2013-04-01

    This talk presents findings related to our ongoing work investigating students' knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology. We present an overview of research studies and findings including a comparison of the science literacy measures of University of Arizona students compared to national studies, conceptions related to astrology, views of radiation, and students' pseudoscience and religious beliefs. We discuss implications for instructors and researchers interested in improving students' science literacy scores and diagnosing alternative beliefs.

  5. A doppio senso: istruzioni su come orientarsi nelle immagini astrologiche di Palazzo Schifanoia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Bertozzi

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available In the “Sala dei Mesi” of Palazzo Schifanoia the months and the zodiacal constellations go from right to left, while the decans (three for every sign go in the opposite direction. This problem was not  clarified by Aby Warburg in his well-known essay Italian Art and International Astrology in the Palazzo Schifanoia of Ferrara (1912. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons of this double direction.

  6. [Astrologic and medical manuscript of the 18th Century].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kugener, Henri

    2010-01-01

    We present a manuscript from the 18th century, an extract taken from the "Great and the Little Albert" attributed to Albertus Magnus. The linguistic variety in the paper is typical for a text composed in Luxembourg. Added to this text are two incantations and a short cartomancy paper.

  7. L’attraction magnétique entre influence astrale et astrologie au Moyen Âge (XIIIe-XVe siècle)

    OpenAIRE

    Weill-Parot, Nicolas

    2015-01-01

    The famous comparison made by the astrologer Messahalla (Mashā’allāh) between the astral influence on the sublunar world and the attraction of a piece of iron by a magnet, repeated by Albumasar (Abū Ma’shar), was a widespread idea among Latin medieval authors. But beyond this general comparison, many Latin commentators on Aristotle’s Physics drew a parallel between astral influences and magnetic attraction as examples of alleged attractions at a distance. B...

  8. International Conference on the Physics of Electronic and Atomic Collisions. Participants List (16th), Held in New York, New York on 26 July-1 August 1989

    Science.gov (United States)

    1989-08-01

    SOPHIA UNIVERSITY INST. DE ASTRONOMIA OSSERVATERIO ASTROLOGIC DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS Y FISICA DEL ESPACIO DE BRERA 7-1 KIOI-CHO C.C. 67, SUC. 28 VIA...ISLAM STATE UNIVERSITY OF Y . ITIKAWA WALRAVEN J. NEW YORK COLLEGE-POTSDAM INST OF SPACE & ASTRN SCI UN7’,ERSITY OF 136 MAPLE STREET 3-1-1 YOSHINODAI...S.UNIVERSITY DR USA PRINCETON, NJ 08544 FT. WORTH, TI 76129 USA USA ALEXANDER KALAMARIDES EMANUEL Y . KAMBER WOLFGANG KAMKE RICE UNIVERSITY PHYSICS DEPT

  9. World cup soccer players tend to be born with sun and moon in adjacent zodiacal signs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhulst, J

    2000-01-01

    The ecliptic elongation of the moon with respect to the sun does not show uniform distribution on the birth dates of the 704 soccer players selected for the 1998 World Cup. However, a uniform distribution is expected on astronomical grounds. The World Cup players show a very pronounced tendency (p = 0.00001) to be born on days when the sun and moon are in adjacent zodiacal signs. Key Words: soccer; World Cup; astrology; moon PMID:11131239

  10. PLEIADES IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

    OpenAIRE

    Verderame, L.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper I will analyse the different features of the Pleiades in the astronomical, astrological, and calendrical interpretation as well as their mythical and cultural background in ancient Mesopotamia. According to cuneiform sources, the Pleiades are among the most important stars. They are simply known in Sumerian as ―the Stars‖ (MUL.MUL), while their Akkadian name, ―the Bristle‖ (zappu), links them to the imagery and the cultural context of the ―Bull of Heaven‖ constellation (Taurus),...

  11. European concerted action COST 50 - materials for gas turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bressers, J.; Cat, R. de; Fenske, E.

    1984-01-01

    A combined approach which would yield differential information regarding both crack initiation and crack growth from a single test specimen has been adopted to study the low cycle fatigue behaviour of PM Astrology over a range of testing conditions (temperature, strain-rate, plastic strain-amplitude) which span the range from cycle dependent to time dependent low cycle fatigue. It appears that both crack initiation and crack growth depend in a non-systematic manner on the testing parameters, which results from the simultaneous action of several time dependent processes. These time-dependent processes cause Tomkins' crack growth model to fail to correctly predict the number of cycles spent in crack growth at the high-temperature, low strain-rate end of the test parameter spectrum. At the other end of the test parameter spectrum the match with the experimental data is fortuitious since the laws governing the crack growth behaviour for crack sizes below and beyond approximately 200 ..mu..m (short crack growth behaviour and higher order dependence of the crack growth rate on the crack depth, respectively) deviate from the crack growth law which is at the basis of Tomkins' model. The experimental crack increment data are used to compute fracture mechanics lives. It is suggested that these fracture mechanics lives are appropriate lower bound estimates of the life of PM Astrology containing defects such as inclusions.

  12. The Ptolemaen Musica. Introduction, Russian translation and notes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lyudmila V. Alexandrova

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available An often neglected small treatise, conventionally entitled The Ptolemaean ‘Musica’ (apparently dated to the Late Antiquity, is translated into the Russian for the first time. The work is a compilation of various sources, which include the Aristoxenian rhythmics, the Neopythagorean numerology and harmonics as well as the Ptolemaean geocentric astrology. According to its author the planetary cycles in their unity are closely related to the musical proportions. This approach further allows correlating the planetary rhythms with the musical rhythmics.

  13. Monographs in Tang Official Historiography: Perspectives from the Technical Treatises of the History of Sui (Sui shu)

    OpenAIRE

    Morgan, Daniel Patrick; Chaussende, Damien

    2018-01-01

    Finished in 656 as part of a larger project, the ten ‘treatises’ (zhi) of the current History of Sui (Sui shu) provide us with histories of such fields of technical knowledge as astronomy, astrology, omenology, economics, law, geography, metrology, and library science covering the five divided and short-lived dynasties, 502–618 CE, that were the predecessors of the Tang. This edited volume brings together young experts in these fields to reflect upon the way that their history has been writte...

  14. [Tomaso Rangone (1493-1577): an Italian physician and his library].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrmann, Sabine

    2012-01-01

    The private library of Tomaso Rangone (1473-1577), famous for his patronage of Jacobo Sansovino and Alessandro Vittoria, does not only reflect the personal interests of a medical practitioner in the Italian Renaissance, but also the social, and scientific development of the first half of the Cinquecento: the popularity of astrology, the effect of the European expansion on geography, the growing interest for historiography, the advances in the field of medicine and botany and the remaining influence of medieval scholasticism.

  15. La obra astrológica de Abraham Ibn Ezra en dos códices castellanos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sainz de la Maza, Carlos

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article we offer a study and a commentary of Abraham Ibn Ezra’s astrological works that have been preserved in two old Spanish manuscripts translated from Hebrew in a late medieval converso environment.

    En el presente artículo ofrecemos un estudio y comentario de las obras astrológicas de Abraham Ibn Ezra que han sido preservadas en dos manuscritos en castellano traducidos del hebreo en un entorno converso a finales de la Baja Edad Media.

  16. No evidence for an early seventeenth-century Indian sighting of Kepler's supernova (SN1604)

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Gent, R. H.

    2013-03-01

    In a recent paper in this journal, Sule et al. (2011) argued that an early 17th-century Indian mural of the constellation Sagittarius with a dragon-headed tail indicated that the bright supernova of 1604 was also sighted by Indian astronomers. In this paper it will be shown that this identification is based on a misunderstanding of traditional Islamic astrological iconography and that the claim that the mural represents an early 17th-century Indian sighting of the supernova of 1604 has to be rejected.

  17. The historical supernovae

    CERN Document Server

    Clark, David H

    1977-01-01

    The Historical Supernovae is an interdisciplinary study of the historical records of supernova. This book is composed of 12 chapters that particularly highlight the history of the Far East. The opening chapter briefly describes the features of nova and supernova, stars which spontaneously explode with a spectacular and rapid increase in brightness. The succeeding chapter deals with the search for the historical records of supernova from Medieval European monastic chronicles, Arabic chronicles, astrological works etc., post renaissance European scientific writings, and Far Eastern histories and

  18. Fission track astrology of three Apollo 14 gas-rich breccias

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graf, H.; Shirck, J.; Sun, S.; Walker, R.

    1973-01-01

    The three Apollo 14 breccias 14301, 14313, and 14318 all show fission xenon due to the decay of Pu-244. To investigate possible in situ production of the fission gas, an analysis was made of the U-distribution in these three breccias. The major amount of the U lies in glass clasts and in matrix material and no more than 25% occurs in distinct high-U minerals. The U-distribution of each breccia is discussed in detail. Whitlockite grains in breccias 14301 and 14318 found with the U-mapping were etched and analyzed for fission tracks. The excess track densities are much smaller than indicated by the Xe-excess. Because of a preirradiation history documented by very high track densities in feldspar grains, however, it is impossible to attribute the excess tracks to the decay of Pu-244. A modified track method has been developed for measuring average U-concentrations in samples containing a heterogeneous distribution of U in the form of small high-U minerals. The method is briefly discussed, and results for the rocks 14301, 14313, 14318, 68815, 15595, and the soil 64421 are given.

  19. Studies in the history of astronomy. Number 19, 1987

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurshtein, A. A.

    Papers are presented on such topics as the history of the exploration of Venus, the history of the discovery of the relic radiation, Copernicus' star catalog, Euler's contribution to potential theory in connection with the theory of the earth's figure, the role of astrology in ancient culture, and the history of the study of astronomical refraction. Attention is also given to astronomy in Kazakhstan during the Second World War, the contribution of Arago to the development of astrophysics instrumentation, and the work on astronomy written by Kirik of Novgorod in the year 1136.

  20. The Shadow of Enlightenment Optical and Political Transparency in France 1789-1848

    CERN Document Server

    Levitt, Theresa

    2009-01-01

    This book is the first to place revolutionary advances in light and optics in the cultural context of France in the first half of the nineteenth century. The narrative follows the work and careers of France's two chief rivals on the subject of light: Arago and Biot. Their disagreement began on the subject of technical optics, but expanded to include politics, religion, agricultural policy, education, dinner companions, housing arrangements, photography, railroads, vital forces,astrology, the Egyptian calendar, and colonial slavery. At the heart of their disagreement was always a question of vi

  1. The star of Bethlehem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hughes, D.W.

    1976-01-01

    It is stated that the cause and form of the star are still uncertain. The astrologically significant triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the constellation of Pisces appears to be the most likely explanation, although the two comets of March 5 BC and April 4 BC cannot be dismissed, nor can the possibility that the 'star' was simply legendary. The conjunction occurred in 7 BC and there are indications that Jesus Christ was probably born in the Autumn of that year, around October 7 BC. (U.K.)

  2. New Light on the Legendary King Nechepsos of Egypt

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ryholt, Kim

    2011-01-01

    This paper identifies several indigenous Egyptian attestations of King Nechepsos, previously well known from Classical sources. The name may be understood as ‘Necho the Wise’, and refers to Necho II of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. His association with astrology may be related to an eclipse near the ...... the beginning of that king’s historical reign. This paper further identifies the sage Petosiris known from Greek texts as the well-attested sage Petesis. The divine instructors of Nechepsos and Petosiris are identified as Imhotep and Amenhotep son of Hapu....

  3. Legacy of the Luoshu the 4,000 year search for the meaning of the magic square of order three

    CERN Document Server

    Swetz, Frank

    2008-01-01

    A symbol of the Divine, a good luck charm, a cosmogram of the world order, a template for fengshui -through the ages, the luoshu, or magic squre of order three, has fascinated people of many different cultures. In this riveting account of cultural detective work, renowned mathematics educator, Frank J. Swetz relates how he uncovered the previously hidden history of the luoshu, from its Chinese origins, shrouded in legend, through its eventual association with Chinese fortunetelling, Daoism, and fengshui, to its incorporation into Islamic astrology and alchemy and its migration into Kabbalistic

  4. Many skies alternative histories of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars

    CERN Document Server

    Upgren, Arthur

    2005-01-01

    Many Skies: Alternative Histories of the Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars examines the changes in science that  alternative solar, stellar, and galactic arrangements would have brought, and explores the different theologies, astrologies, and methods of tracking time that would have developed to reflect them. Our perception of our surroundings, the number of gods we worship, the symbols we use in art and literature, even the way we form nations and empires are all closely tied to our particular (and accidental) placement in the universe.  Upgren also explores the actual ways tha

  5. Cheap and fast measuring roughness on big surfaces with an imprint method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schopf, C.; Liebl, J.; Rascher, R.

    2017-10-01

    Roughness, shape and structure of a surface offer information on the state, shape and surface characteristics of a component. Particularly the roughness of the surface dictates the subsequent polishing of the optical surface. The roughness is usually measured by a white light interferometer, which is limited by the size of the components. Using a moulding method of surfaces that are difficult to reach, an imprint is taken and analysed regarding to roughness and structure. This moulding compound method is successfully used in dental technology. In optical production, the moulding compound method is advantageous in roughness determination in inaccessible spots or on large components (astrological optics). The "replica method" has been around in metal analysis and processing. Film is used in order to take an impression of a surface. Then, it is analysed for structures. In optical production, compound moulding seems advantageous in roughness determination in inaccessible spots or on large components (astrological optics). In preliminary trials, different glass samples with different roughness levels were manufactured. Imprints were taken from these samples (based on DIN 54150 "Abdruckverfahren für die Oberflächenprüfung"). The objective of these feasibility tests was to determine the limits of this method (smallest roughness determinable / highest roughness). The roughness of the imprint was compared with the roughness of the glass samples. By comparing the results, the uncertainty of the measuring method was determined. The spectrum for the trials ranged from rough grind (0.8 μm rms), over finishing grind (0.6 μm rms) to polishing (0.1 μm rms).

  6. [Al-Biruni--a universal scientist].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kujundzić, E; Masić, I

    1999-01-01

    Al-Biruni's was of Persian descent. He was born in Horesmiya and had studied mathematics, history and medicine. Acquiring knowledge from these sciences, he wrote an outstanding work on chronology of several nations and devoted it to Ziyarit ruler Kabus. He made a chronological overview of calendars from many nations, including Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, Melkitian and Nestorian Christians, Sabeyaans as well as the old Arabs. Data presented in the work, according to the later authors, were taken from very reliable sources. He was contemporary of Ibn-Sina, and thanks to their friendship, they have discussed very much miscellaneous topics. He belonged to the group of scholars, taken by Gaznevian Soultan Mahmud to a long journey to India. Afterwards Al-Biruni wrote and published detailed work "Description of India"--a work on cultural history of India. Due to excellent abilities of Al-Biruni as a philosopher and scholar, there are still significant and reliable notes about buddhistic philosophy, structure of castes and Brahmans' life style. In this Al-Biruni's masterpiece, there are many comparative analysis of Suffism and certain Indian philosophical methods. Al-Biruni's most important work is "Pharmacopoeia"--"Kitab al-saydala", which brilliantly describes all medicaments. This work has been published in many languages. He also wrote few works on astronomy and astrology. In those works he has explained some astrological events through scientific approach in a such peculiar way that nobody has ever explained before. He was also interested in sciences like geology, mineralology, geography, mathematics, psychology and many others.

  7. Analysis of the presence of pseudoscience in the catalogues of public libraries in Spain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergi Cortiñas-Rovira

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the presence of books regarding instances of pseudoscience as their main topic in catalogues of public libraries in Spain, as well as the opinion of such works about pseudoscience. A database is created to analyse both absolute and relative amounts of those works in all Spanish catalogues. The numbers show a small, yet worrying percentage of 0.15% titles concerning several pseudosciences and prove astrology as the most abundant instance in libraries. The study also explains the menace of homeopathy, as the works about this pseudotherapy outnumber those regarding chemotherapy in a 1/20 ratio.

  8. National Calendar-2008

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghedrovici, Vera; Svet, Maria; Matvei, Valeria; Madan, Ion; Perju, Elena; Sargun, Maria; Netida, Maria

    The calendar represents a few hundreds of biographies of scientists, artists and writers from everywhere, printed in chronological order and adjusted to their birthdays. A number of international and national holydays, including some refering to science are included in the Calendar. A great defect of the calendar is the introduction of the "International day of astrology" in the list of holydays. Another defect is the absence of the indication on the membership to the Communist Party for persons cited from the former Soviet Union. The following Physicists, mathematicians, chemists and astronomers had biographies in this issue: Ilie I. Lupu (math),Lev D. Landau,

  9. Orion in Homer: is it a Terrestrial, an Astral or an Astronomical Myth?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Revello, Manuela

    2015-05-01

    In Greek literature the subjects that relate to stars and constellations are very complex. Various studies are involved in this field of investigation, such as those of astronomy, astrology, mythology, astral-metereology and philology; the situation becomes even more complicated when we attempt to reconstruct a picture of the knowledge of the stars and the relative degree of consciousness of this matter existent during the Homeric age. In this brief report we shall look at the constellation of Orion. The discussed arguments will point out the sharp differences that exist between terrestrial, astronomical and astral myths.

  10. Ancient Chinese Observations and Modern Cometary Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeomans, D. K.

    1995-12-01

    Ancient astronomical observations by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean observers represent the only data source for discerning the long-term behavior of comets. The primary source material is derived from Chinese astrologers who kept a vigilant celestial watch in an effort to issue up-to-date astrological forecasts for the reigning emperors. Surprisingly accurate records were kept on cometary apparitions with careful notes being made of an object's position, motion, size, color, and tail length. For comets Halley, Swift-Tuttle, and Tempel-Tuttle, Chinese observations have been used to model their motions over two millennia and to infer their photometric histories. One general result is that active comets must achieve an apparent magnitude of 3.5 or brighter before they become obvious naked-eye objects. For both comets Halley and Swift-Tuttle, their absolute magnitudes and hence their outgassing rates, have remained relatively constant for two millennia. Comet Halley's rocket-like outgassing has consistently delayed the comet's return to perihelion by 4 days so that the comet's spin axis must have remained stable for at least two millennia. Although its outgassing is at nearly the same rate as Halley's, comet Swift-Tuttle's motion has been unaffected by outgassing forces; this comet is likely to be ten times more massive than Halley and hence far more difficult for rocket-like forces to push it around. Although the earliest definite observations of comet Tempel-Tuttle were in 1366, the associated Leonid meteor showers have been identified as early as A.D. 902. The circumstance for each historical meteor shower and storm have been used to guide predictions for the upcoming 1998-1999 Leonid meteor displays.

  11. Using Stellarium to cyber-observe the Great American Eclipse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prim, Ellie R.; Sitar, David J.

    2017-09-01

    The Great American Eclipse is over. Somewhat sad, is it not? Individuals who were unable to experience the event on August 21, 2017, can now cyber-observe the eclipse with Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org). In the authors' opinion, it is fun and has many great applications in the classroom. In addition it is open source and available for Android, iOS, and Linux users. We here at Appalachian use it in our introductory astronomy labs for specific activities such as investigating coordinate systems, discovering differences between solar and sidereal days, as well as determining why your "astrological sign" is most often not your "astronomical sign."

  12. Mathematical Astronomy in India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plofker, Kim

    Astronomy in South Asia's Sanskrit tradition, apparently originating in simple calendric computations regulating the timing of ancient ritual practices, expanded over the course of two or three millennia to include detailed spherical models, an endless variety of astrological systems, and academic mathematics in general. Assimilating various technical models, methods, and genres from the astronomy of neighboring cultures, Indian astronomers created new forms that were in turn borrowed by their foreign counterparts. Always recognizably related to the main themes of Eurasian geocentric mathematical astronomy, Indian astral science nonetheless maintained its culturally distinct character until Keplerian heliocentrism and Newtonian mechanics replaced it in colonial South Asia's academic mainstream.

  13. Teaching Cultural Astronomy: On the Development and Evolution of the Syllabus at Bath Spa University and the University of Wales, Lampeter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campion, Nick

    TheMaster of Arts in CulturalAstronomy andAstrology at the University of Wales, Lampeter, formerly taught at Bath Spa University in England, is the first degree of its kind in the world. (I shall refer to the discipline as Cultural Astronomy, with initial letters as upper case, and the phenomena which it studies as cultural astronomy, all lower case). My definition combines both the discipline and the phenomenon; 'Cultural astronomy: the use of astronomical knowledge, beliefs or theories to inspire, inform or influence social forms and ideologies, or any aspect of human behaviour. Cultural astronomy also includes the modern disciplines of ethnoastronomy and archaeoastronomy' (Campion 1997: 2).

  14. Reviews Equipment: Chameleon Nano Flakes Book: Requiem for a Species Equipment: Laser Sound System Equipment: EasySense VISION Equipment: UV Flash Kit Book: The Demon-Haunted World Book: Nonsense on Stilts Book: How to Think about Weird Things Web Watch

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-01

    WE RECOMMEND Requiem for a Species This book delivers a sober message about climate change Laser Sound System Sound kit is useful for laser demonstrations EasySense VISION Data Harvest produces another easy-to-use data logger UV Flash Kit Useful equipment captures shadows on film The Demon-Haunted World World-famous astronomer attacks pseudoscience in this book Nonsense on Stilts A thought-provoking analysis of hard and soft sciences How to Think about Weird Things This book explores the credibility of astrologers and their ilk WORTH A LOOK Chameleon Nano Flakes Product lacks good instructions and guidelines WEB WATCH Amateur scientists help out researchers with a variety of online projects

  15. Tycho Brahe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dreyer, John Louis Emil

    2014-02-01

    Preface; 1. The revival of astronomy in Europe; 2. Tycho Brahe's youth; 3. The new star of 1572; 4. Tycho's oration on astrology and his travels in 1575; 5. The island of Hveen and Tycho Brahe's observatories and other buildings; 6. Tycho's life at Hveen until the death of King Frederick II; 7. Tycho's book on the comet of 1577, and his system of the world; 8. Further work on the star of 1572; 9. The last years at Hveen, 1588-97; 10. Tycho's life from his leaving Hveen until his arrival at Prague; 11. Tycho Brahe in Bohemia - his death; 12. Tycho Brahe's scientific achievements; Appendix; Notes; Index.

  16. Science of Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vedavyas

    A Multi-disciplinary Research into the Chronologies of Ancient Nations -- like the Vedas of India Rishies, the Chaldeans, Babylonians, Egyptians and the Chinese. Which traces how the "Measurement of Time" -- which began with the observations of sunrise and Sunset, Full-Moons, eclipses, the movement of stars and the Discovery of the Zodiac that starry pathway of sun in his annual Cycle of the 12-Zodiacal months, the Measurement of Time by planetary Cycles the Discovery of Astronomy and Symbolic or Kabalistic Astrology of the Bible's Old Testament; the Epics of Babylonians and 'Cosmic Cycles' of Chaldeans and Egyptians also the Ancient "Four Yugas" or Hindu Vedic Cycles.

  17. When the dragon wore the crown putting starlight back into myth

    CERN Document Server

    Cerow, Don

    2013-01-01

    When our ancestors gazed upon the skies thousands of years ago they looked up into the center of Creation and saw a mighty Dragon, a great celestial serpent with wings circling ceaselessly above them, night after night, century after century. When the Dragon Wore the Crown is a ground breaking book that covers a period of over six thousand years, focusing on what astrologers would call the Ages of Gemini, Taurus and Aries and taking us through the period of classical astronomy with the Greeks and Romans (approx. 7000 BC-200 AD).When the Dragon Wore the Crown opens and closes with the Chinese m

  18. Measuring Science Literacy in College Undergraduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Impey, Chris David; Buxner, S. R.; Antonellis, J.; King, C.; Johnson, E.; CATS

    2010-01-01

    Initial results from a major study of scientific literacy are presented, involving nearly 10,000 undergraduates in science classes at a large Southwestern Land Grant public university over a 20-year period. The science content questions overlap with those in the NSF's Science Indicators series. About 10% of all undergraduates in the US take a General Education astronomy course, and NSF data and the work of Jon Miller show that the number of college science courses taken is the strongest predictor of civic scientific literacy. Our data show that gains in knowledge on any particular item through the time students graduate are only 10-15%. Among students who have taken most or all of their science requirements, one-in-three think that antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria, one-in-four think lasers work by focusing sound waves, one-in-five think atoms are smaller than electrons, and the same fraction is unaware that humans evolved from earlier species of animals and that the Earth takes a year to go around the Sun. The fraction of undergraduates saying that astrology is "not at all” scientific increases from 17% to a still-low 34% as they move through the university. Equally worrying, half of all science majors say that astrology is "sort of” or "very” scientific. Education majors - the cohort of future teachers - perform worse than average on most individual questions and in terms of their overall scientific literacy. Assuming the study institution is representative of the nation's higher education institutions, our instruction is not raising students to the level we would expect for educated citizens who must vote on many issues that relate to science and technology. We acknowledge the NSF for funding under Award No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  19. [Occult medicine in the 20th century: pharmacotherapy by Demeter Georgievitz-Weitzer, known as Surya (1873 - 1949)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helmstädter, Axel

    2011-01-01

    Demeter Georgievitz-Weitzer (1873-1949), called "Surya", Sanskrit for "sun", was an important representative of medical occultism in the first half of the 20th century. He worked as a journal editor and published a 13-volume book series about occult medicine, mainly written by himself. His hypotheses were closely related to the "Lebensreform" movement around 1900. Regarding diagnostics, he relied on astrology, cheiromancy, and clairvoyance, while therapeutics were dominated by diet and spagyric remedies according to Cesare Mattei (1809-1896) and Carl-Friedrich Zimpel (1801-1879). In his later years, he developed his own healing system, initially comprising eight, later only two preparations. Surya remedies were commercially available until the end of the 20th century,

  20. Elementi di astrologia nel Decameron censurato di Luigi Groto

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristina Lazar

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The censored version of the Decameron by Luigi Groto, which was published in 1588, was already the third censorship of Boccaccio's masterpiece during the Counter-Reformation. As opposed to the other two censured versions, this one did not place emphasis on philological questions, but it tried above all to narratively fill the gaps created by expurgation; in some cases following the original plot and in the others changing it to such a degree that the novels remained barely recognizable. This article exposes some characteristics of Groto's mannerist style; especially the elements of astrology, which emerge in the expurgated parts of the text, and the way these elements function when inserted into Boccaccio's text.

  1. The Argument Form "Appeal to Galileo": A Critical Appreciation of Doury’s Account

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maurice A Finocchiaro

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Following a linguistic-descriptivist approach, Marianne Doury has studied debates about “parasciences” (e.g. astrology, discovering that “parascientists” frequently argue by “appeal to Galileo” (i.e., defend their views by comparing themselves to Galileo and their opponents to the Inquisition; opponents object by criticizing the analogy, charging fallacy, and appealing to counter-examples. I argue that Galilean appeals are much more widely used, by creationists, global-warming skeptics, advocates of “settled science”, great scientists, and great philosophers. Moreover, several subtypes should be distinguished; critiques questioning the analogy are proper; fallacy charges are problematic; and appeals to counter-examples are really indirect critiques of the analogy.

  2. [A brief history of the natural causes of human disease].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lips-Castro, Walter

    2015-01-01

    In the study of the causes of disease that have arisen during the development of humankind, one can distinguish three major perspectives: the natural, the supernatural, and the artificial. In this paper we distinguish the rational natural causes of disease from the irrational natural causes. Within the natural and rational causal approaches of disease, we can highlight the Egyptian theory of putrid intestinal materials called "wechdu", the humoral theory, the atomistic theory, the contagious theory, the cellular theory, the molecular (genetic) theory, and the ecogenetic theory. Regarding the irrational, esoteric, and mystic causal approaches to disease, we highlight the astrological, the alchemical, the iatrochemical, the iatromechanical, and others (irritability, solidism, brownism, and mesmerism).

  3. Is evaluating complementary and alternative medicine equivalent to evaluating the absurd?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greasley, Pete

    2010-06-01

    Complementary and alternative therapies such as reflexology and acupuncture have been the subject of numerous evaluations, clinical trials, and systematic reviews, yet the empirical evidence in support of their efficacy remains equivocal. The empirical evaluation of a therapy would normally assume a plausible rationale regarding the mechanism of action. However, examination of the historical background and underlying principles for reflexology, iridology, acupuncture, auricular acupuncture, and some herbal medicines, reveals a rationale founded on the principle of analogical correspondences, which is a common basis for magical thinking and pseudoscientific beliefs such as astrology and chiromancy. Where this is the case, it is suggested that subjecting these therapies to empirical evaluation may be tantamount to evaluating the absurd.

  4. Die New Age beweging - oorsig en beoordeling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. J. de Bruyn

    1992-06-01

    Full Text Available The New Age Movement (NAM is a leaderless but powerful network, working to bring about radical change in the world. In fact the NAM is a transplantation of Hindu philosophy, with Buddist elements from the East to the West. This article explicates the origin of the NAM and describes its mystic, occult and feminist character. In the article it is stated that the NAM rests on monistic and astrological pillars and that its main doctrines are as follows: pantheism, emanation (instead of creation, reincarnation and the fact that Christ is one of the great Masters controlling the world. The views and doctrines of the NAM are then judged in the light of Scripture.

  5. The Context of Demarcation in Nature of Science Teaching: The Case of Astrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turgut, Halil

    2011-01-01

    The aim of developing students' understanding of the nature of science [NOS] has been considered an important aspect of science education. However, the results of previous research indicate that students of various ages and even teachers possess both inaccurate and inappropriate views of the NOS. Such a failure has been explained by the view that…

  6. [On the astrology and computation in the 12th century: new unpublished manuscripts ].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caiazzo, Irene

    2012-01-01

    This article examines three so far unknown lemmatic commentaries on computus and on astrolabe topics, which are to be found in MS Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Cod. math. 4 degrees 33 (second half of the twelfth-century). The commentaries are on the 'Compotus' by Gerlandus, on the 'De mensura astrolabii' by Hermann of Reichenau, and on the 'De utilitatibus astrolabii', which is sometimes attributed to Gerbert of Aurillac. No commentaries on the respective treatises have previously been identified as such. The commentaries of the Stuttgart manuscript are of special interest in that they allow us to understand how a twelfth-century scholar read works on computus and the astrolabe, namely works that date back to the eleventh century. Their author remains anonymous, but in all probability he wrote his commentary on the 'Compotus' by Gerlandus either in 1143 or in 1150. An appendix to the article includes transcriptions of the introductory texts on the computus and on the astrolabe as well as the beginnings of the commentaries.

  7. Imhotep and the discovery of cerebrospinal fluid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blomstedt, Patric

    2014-01-01

    Herbowski (2013) suggested recently the Egyptian Imhotep from the 3rd dynasty in Egypt to be the discoverer of cerebrospinal fluid. There are, however, no sources within the first 2000 years after Imhotep suggesting him to be in any way connected with the field of medicine. Over the course of three millennia Imhotep evolves into the sage who besides architecture also masters the arts of medicine, magic, astronomy, and astrology, at the same time as him being transformed from man to demi-God, and finally to a God. The identification of Imhotep as a doctor has thus little to do with facts and it is unlikely that he had anything to do with the Edwin-Smith papyrus from a much later period where CSF is first mentioned.

  8. Revision and Re-enchantment of the Legacy of Psychology from a Half Century of Consciousness Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanislav Grof

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Drawing on observations from more than fifty years of research into an important subgroup of non-ordinary states of consciousness that he calls holotropic, the author suggests a revision of some basic assumptions of modern psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy. The proposed changes involve the nature of consciousness and its relationship to matter, dimensions of the human psyche, the roots of emotional and psychosomatic disorders, and therapeutic strategy. In the light of the new observations, spirituality appears to be an essential attribute of the human psyche and of existence in general. An important and controversial subject that could be only tangentially addressed in the context of this paper is the importance of archetypal psychology and astrology for consciousness research.

  9. Image Segmentation of Historical Handwriting from Palm Leaf Manuscripts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surinta, Olarik; Chamchong, Rapeeporn

    Palm leaf manuscripts were one of the earliest forms of written media and were used in Southeast Asia to store early written knowledge about subjects such as medicine, Buddhist doctrine and astrology. Therefore, historical handwritten palm leaf manuscripts are important for people who like to learn about historical documents, because we can learn more experience from them. This paper presents an image segmentation of historical handwriting from palm leaf manuscripts. The process is composed of three steps: 1) background elimination to separate text and background by Otsu's algorithm 2) line segmentation and 3) character segmentation by histogram of image. The end result is the character's image. The results from this research may be applied to optical character recognition (OCR) in the future.

  10. Astronomy in the Age of Leonardo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welther, B. L.

    1997-12-01

    In the 1450s, when Leonardo da Vinci was born, horoscopes were still based primarily on the 13th-century tables developed in the court of Alfonso el Sabio of Spain. By the 15th century European astronomers were computing revised forms of the tables. In Italy, for example, Giovanni Bianchini of Ferrara completed his Tabulae astronomicae in the 1440s. It was finally published posthumously in Venice in 1495. By the 1480s Domenico Maria Novara, a professor of astronomy in Bologna, was publishing annual prognostications of eclipses, conjunctions, and other celestial phenomena. Against this background of traditional astronomy in Italy, two Florentines recorded observations of the sun and moon, comets, and meteorology. Paolo dal Pozzi Toscanelli flourished in the first half of the 15th century and Leonardo da Vinci in the last half. Their observations of celestial phenomena were not primarily for astronomical purposes; they were spinoffs of other pursuits such as medicine, astrology, optics, engineering, and studies of light and shadow. As a physician and cartographer, Toscanelli practiced astrology, studied omens, observed comets and plotted their paths on homemade maps. He also was associated with the construction of a gnomon at the top of the Duomo to observe the summer solstice. It was this project that may have brought him into contact with the young artisan, Leonardo da Vinci. As a painter, Leonardo's approach to science and engineering was to observe, sketch and analyze. His interest in light and shadow led him to notice how the earth, moon and planets all reflect sunlight. His extant manuscripts have geometric sketches for eclipses and for the phenomenon known as "old moon in new moon's arms." Unfortunately, because neither Toscanelli nor Leonardo published their observations, they made no impact on the history of astronomical thought or observation. Their contemporaries did not know or write about their work. Astronomers in the 16th century did not know about

  11. Imhotep and the Discovery of Cerebrospinal Fluid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patric Blomstedt

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Herbowski (2013 suggested recently the Egyptian Imhotep from the 3rd dynasty in Egypt to be the discoverer of cerebrospinal fluid. There are, however, no sources within the first 2000 years after Imhotep suggesting him to be in any way connected with the field of medicine. Over the course of three millennia Imhotep evolves into the sage who besides architecture also masters the arts of medicine, magic, astronomy, and astrology, at the same time as him being transformed from man to demi-God, and finally to a God. The identification of Imhotep as a doctor has thus little to do with facts and it is unlikely that he had anything to do with the Edwin-Smith papyrus from a much later period where CSF is first mentioned.

  12. Stars and Flowers, Flowers and Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minti, Hari

    2012-12-01

    The author, a graduated from the Bucharest University (1964), actually living and working in Israel, concerns his book to variable stars and flowers, two domains of his interest. The analogies includes double stars, eclipsing double stars, eclipses, Big Bang. The book contains 34 chapters, each of which concerns various relations between astronomy and other sciences and pseudosciences such as Psychology, Religion, Geology, Computers and Astrology (to which the author is not an adherent). A special part of the book is dedicated to archeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy, as well as to history of astronomy. Between the main points of interest of these parts: ancient sanctuaries in Sarmizegetusa (Dacia), Stone Henge(UK) and other. The last chapter of the book is dedicated to flowers. The book is richly illustrated. It is designed for a wide circle of readers.

  13. Imhotep and the Discovery of Cerebrospinal Fluid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blomstedt, Patric

    2014-01-01

    Herbowski (2013) suggested recently the Egyptian Imhotep from the 3rd dynasty in Egypt to be the discoverer of cerebrospinal fluid. There are, however, no sources within the first 2000 years after Imhotep suggesting him to be in any way connected with the field of medicine. Over the course of three millennia Imhotep evolves into the sage who besides architecture also masters the arts of medicine, magic, astronomy, and astrology, at the same time as him being transformed from man to demi-God, and finally to a God. The identification of Imhotep as a doctor has thus little to do with facts and it is unlikely that he had anything to do with the Edwin-Smith papyrus from a much later period where CSF is first mentioned. PMID:24744920

  14. [The celestial phenomena in A. Dürer's engraving Melancholia I].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weitzel, Hans

    2009-01-01

    The celestial body of Dürer's engraving Melencolia I is connected with his painting of a meteor, the Raveningham-painting; it is shown that the origin of this painting owns to the impact of the meteor of Ensisheim in 1492. Until now the celestial body, the balance, and the magic square are nearly consistently interpreted as the planet Saturn, the zodiac sign Libra, and the planet Jupiter, and the melancholy woman is subject to these heavenly bodies. Consequently, neoplatonic astrology has been the main focus of the engraving; including the rainbow, the engraving has also been interpreted biblically. The present paper, however, places emphasis on problems of the geometry as the reason of melancholy. Any astronomical meaning of the configuration of the numbers of the magic square is discarded.

  15. Attitudes and Views of Medical Students toward Science and Pseudoscience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña, Adolfo; Paco, Ofelia

    2004-12-01

    To know opinions, attitudes and interest of medical students toward science and pseudoscience. A questionnaire was administered to 124 medical students of the San Marcos University in Lima, Peru. 173 students were surveyed. The response rate was 72%. Eighty-three percent (100/121) of respondents said that science is the best source of knowledge, 67% (82/123) said they were interested in science and technology news, 76% said they had not read any science magazine or book (other than medical texts and journals) in the last five years. Thirteen percent (16/124) of respondents said that astrology is "very scientific" and 40% (50/124) stated that it is "sort of scientific." 50% of respondents shared the opinion that some people possess psychic powers. Medical students' attitudes toward science are generally not favorable.

  16. [Paracelsianism, astrology and medical ethics in the polemical writings of Tommaso Bovio (1521-1609)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bondio, Mariacarla Gadebusch

    2004-01-01

    Tommaso Bovio was a representative of North Italian non-academic medicine in the early modern period. His "dialogues", published in the second half of the 16th century, were written in the Italian vernacular and enjoyed a certain popularity also in Germany. Although Bovio used to exaggerate for rhetorical effect, his portrayal of patients, illness and treatments provides interesting insights into everyday urban life in his time. Sympathising with Paracelsus, Bovio propagated an image of empirics as humanitarians and fought for the recognition of his own practical knowledge and skills. Bovio was a most original figure in the medicine of the period of counter reformation. His writings exemplify the lively debate between the learned medical tradition and unorthodox reform.

  17. Astronomy across cultures the history of non-Western astronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Xiaochun, Sun

    2000-01-01

    Astronomy Across Cultures: A History of Non-Western Astronomy consists of essays dealing with the astronomical knowledge and beliefs of cultures outside the United States and Europe. In addition to articles surveying Islamic, Chinese, Native American, Aboriginal Australian, Polynesian, Egyptian and Tibetan astronomy, among others, the book includes essays on Sky Tales and Why We Tell Them and Astronomy and Prehistory, and Astronomy and Astrology. The essays address the connections between science and culture and relate astronomical practices to the cultures which produced them. Each essay is well illustrated and contains an extensive bibliography. Because the geographic range is global, the book fills a gap in both the history of science and in cultural studies. It should find a place on the bookshelves of advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars, as well as in libraries serving those groups.

  18. Scandinavian belief in fate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Åke Ström

    1967-02-01

    Full Text Available In point of principle, Christianity does not give room for any belief in fate. Astrology, horoscopes, divination, etc., are strictly rejected. Belief in fate never disappeared in Christian countries, nor did it in Scandinavia in Christian times. Especially in folklore we can find it at any period: People believed in an implacable fate. All folklore is filled up with this belief in destiny. Nobody can escape his fate. The future lies in the hands of fate, and the time to come takes its form according to inscrutable laws. The pre-Christian period in Scandinavia, dominated by pagan Norse religion, and the secularized epoch of the 20th century, however, show more distinctive and more widespread beliefs in fate than does the Christian period. The present paper makes a comparison between these forms of belief.

  19. A Course in Science and Pseudoscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Richard

    2009-04-01

    A new course at Hockaday, Science and Pseudoscience, examines what we know, how we know it, and why we get fooled so often and so easily. This is a course in which we measure things we thought we understood and use statistical analysis to test our understanding. We investigate extraordinary claims through the methods of science, asking what makes a good scientific theory, and what makes scientific evidence. We examine urban myths, legends, bad science, medical quackery, and plain old hoaxes. We analyze claims of UFOs, cold fusion, astrology, structure-altered water, apricot pit cures, phlogiston and N-rays, phrenology and orgonomy, ghosts, telekinesis, crop circles and the Bermuda Triangle -- some may be true, some are plainly false, and some we're not really sure of. We develop equipment and scientific techniques to investigate extra-sensory perception, precognition, and EM disturbances.

  20. MELANCOLÍA Y FLEMA (CONCEPCIONES HUMORALISTAS EN TORNO A LA NOCIÓN DE MELANCOLÍA EN "EL ORIGEN DEL TRAUERSPIEL ALEMÁN" DE WALTER BENJAMIN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Horacio de Freitas

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available If something is usually considered to be remarkable about “The origin of German tragic drama”, a book written by Walter Benjamin in order to be a postulant as a teacher at the University, is its conceptual richness and innovation. This essay tries to accomplish two objectives: On the one hand, to understand the sense of one of these notions, that of melancholy, which is so important for Benjamin both in this work and all along his philosophical production. On the other hand, an attempt is made to investigate both implicit and explicit sources used by the philosopher to refer to the term under consideration. This will lead us to deal with classic medicine authors such as Hippocrates and Galen, from the renacentist astrological ideological repertoire such as Ficino and some Freudian proposals about mourning and melancholy.

  1. [Discussion on ideological concept implied in traditional reinforcing and reducing method of acupuncture].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Suyun; Zhao, Jingsheng

    2017-11-12

    The forming and development of traditional reinforcing and reducing method of acupuncture was rooted in traditional culture of China, and was based on the ancients' special understanding of nature, life and diseases, therefore its principle and methods were inevitably influenced by philosophy culture and medicine concept at that time. With deep study on Inner Canon of Huangdi and representative reinforcing and reducing method of acupuncture, the implied ideological concept, including contradiction view and profit-loss view in ancient dialectic, yin-yang balance theory, concept of life flow, monophyletic theory of qi , theory of existence of disease-evil, yin - yang astrology theory, theory of inter-promotion of five elements, were summarized and analyzed. The clarified and systematic understanding on guiding ideology of reinforcing and reducing method of acupuncture could significantly promote the understanding on principle, method, content and manipulation.

  2. Cosmic Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biswas, S. K.; Mallik, D. C. V.; Vishveshwara, C. V.

    2008-07-01

    1. Astronomy in ancient and medieval China Joseph Needham; 2. Indian astronomy: an historical perspective B. V. Subbarayappa; 3. Making of astronomy in ancient India Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya; 4. The impact of astronomy on the development of western science Jean-Claude Pecker; 5. Man and the Universe Hubert Reeves; 6. Understanding the Universe - challenges and directions in modern observational astronomy Harlan Smith, Jr: 7. Frontiers in cosmology Fred Hoyle; 8. Did the Universe originate in a big bang? Jayant Narlikar; 9. The dark matter problem Bernard Carr; 10. Geometry and the Universe C. V. Vishveshwara; 11. The origin and evolution of life Cyril Ponnamperuma; 12. The anthropic principle: self selection as an adjunct to natural selection Brandon Carter; 13. Astrology and science: an examination of the evidence Ivan Kelly, Roger Culver and Peter Loptson; 14. Astronomy and science fiction Allen Janis.

  3. N18, powder metallurgy superalloy for disks: Development and applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guedou, J.Y.; Lautridou, J.C.; Honnorat, Y. (SNECMA, Evry (France). Materials and Processes Dept.)

    1993-08-01

    The preliminary industrial development of a powder metallurgy (PM) superalloy, designated N18, for disk applications has been completed. This alloy exhibits good overall mechanical properties after appropriate processing of the material. These properties have been measured on both isothermally forged and extruded billets, as well as on specimens cut from actual parts. The temperature capability of the alloy is about 700 C for long-term applications and approximately 750 C for short-term use because of microstructural instability. Further improvements in creep and crack propagation properties, without significant reduction in tensile strength, are possible through appropriate thermomechanical processing, which results in a large controlled grain size. Spin pit tests on subscale disks have confirmed that the N18 alloy has a higher resistance than PM Astrology and is therefore an excellent alloy for modern turbine disk applications.

  4. "The Sky's Things", |xam Bushman 'Astrological Mythology' as recorded in the Bleek and Lloyd Manuscripts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollman, J. C.

    2007-07-01

    The Bleek and Lloyd Manuscripts are an extraordinary resource that comprises some 12 000 pages of |xam Bushman beliefs collected in the 1870s in Cape Town, South Africa. About 17% of the collection concerns beliefs and observations of celestial bodies. This paper summarises |xam knowledge about the origins of the celestial bodies as recorded in the manuscripts and situates this within the larger context of the |xam worldview. The stars and planets originate from a mythological past in which they lived as 'people' who hunted and gathered as the |xam did in the past, but who also had characteristics that were to make them the entities that we recognise today. Certain astronomical bodies have consciousness and supernatural potency. They exert an influence over people's everyday lives.

  5. Atomic-scale investigations of grain boundary segregation in astrology with a three dimensional atom-probe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blavette, D. [Rouen Univ., 76 - Mont-Saint-Aignan (France). Lab. de Microscopie Electronique]|[Institut Universitaire de France (France); Letellier, L. [Rouen Univ., 76 - Mont-Saint-Aignan (France). Lab. de Microscopie Electronique; Duval, P. [Rouen Univ., 76 - Mont-Saint-Aignan (France). Lab. de Microscopie Electronique; Guttmann, M. [Rouen Univ., 76 - Mont-Saint-Aignan (France). Lab. de Microscopie Electronique]|[Institut de Recherches de la Siderurgie Francaise (IRSID), 57 - Maizieres-les-Metz (France)

    1996-08-01

    Both conventional and 3D atom-probes were applied to the investigation of grain-boundary (GB) segregation phenomena in two-phase nickel base superalloys Astroloy. 3D images as provided by the tomographic atom-probe reveal the presence of a strong segregation of both boron and molybdenum at grain-boundaries. Slight carbon enrichment is also detected. Considerable chromium segregation is exhibited at {gamma}`-{gamma}` grain-boundaries. All these segregants are distributed in a continuous manner along the boundary over a width close to 0.5 nm. Experiments show that segregation occurs during cooling and more probably between 1000 C and 800 C. Boron and molybdenum GB enrichments are interpreted as due to an equilibrium type-segregation while chromium segregation is thought to be induced by {gamma}` precipitation at GB`s and stabilised by the presence of boron. No segregation of zirconium is detected. (orig.)

  6. The Gaugamela Battle Eclipse: An Archaeoastronomical Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polcaro, V. F.; Valsecchi, G. B.; Verderame, L.

    A total lunar eclipse occurred during the night preceding the decisive Battle of Gaugamela (20th September 331 BCE), when the Macedonian army, led by Alexander the Great, finally defeated the Persian king Darius and his army. This astronomical event, well known to historians, had a relevant role on the battle outcome. The eclipse was described in detail by Babylonian astronomers, though, unfortunately, the text of their report has only partially been preserved. We have reconstructed the evolution of the phenomenon as it appeared to the observer in Babylonia, by using the positional astronomy code "Planetario V2.0". On the base of this reconstruction we suggest a number of integrations to the lost part of the text, allowing a finer astrological interpretation of the eclipse and of its influence on the mood of the armies that set against each other on the following morning.

  7. Bashing Pseudoscience in Academia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hameed, S.; Robinson, G. M.; Moulton, J.

    2003-12-01

    Belief in paranormal, supernatural and other new-age claims is increasing according to surveys by the NSF and others. Astronomy-related pseudo-scientific beliefs are especially common. For example, more than thirty percent of Americans consider astrology to be scientific and more than one-third believe that extraterrestrial beings have visited earth at some time in the past. Not only do such beliefs ignore sound reasoning and information but they compete as alternative explanations for the world around us. While a general education might be expected to reduce acceptance of unsound beliefs, the level of such belief is surprisingly high among those with a higher education. An astronomer, a philosopher and a psychologist cooperated in developing a brief college course designed to challenge unsound reasoning and information, and to inoculate the participants with skepticism. Pre- and post-course opinion surveys show significant changes in belief.

  8. ABOUT LOVE, MURDER AND EMERALDS. IOAN PETRU CULIANU'S ”SERIOUSLY” GAME WITH FICTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciprian Iulian TOROCZKAI

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available This study looks into how Ioan Petru Culianu illustrated some of his ideas, as a historian of religions and as a philosopher of culture, in one of his literary works, The Emeralds Game. This novel is more than mere detective fiction, it is also a magic and esoteric novel, and to understand it we need to refer to magic, astrologic or geomantic practices. This means the considerations the author expressed in his other essential scientific works are “logically” extended, continued in this literary writing. The contemporaneity of the work is suggested by the significant fictional world it proposes, a world where the political blends with the religious, where reality blends with the psychological, science with adventure; all these aspects bring this novel to the same level with other similar novels, like Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose or Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.

  9. The Luminaries: A D―ned Fine Tale, but of What?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Scheckter

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2017v70n1p123 The Luminaries (2013, Eleanor Catton’s novel of nineteenth-century New Zealand, has won wide international acclaim, including the Man Booker Prize. Yet many readers find the work exasperating to read—a “nightmare,” to use a term Catton herself suggests. In large measure, this response emerges from Catton’s use of heavy structuring devices, particularly astrology and mathematics, that pertain to the time period of her fiction. These frameworks tend to make totalizing claims, often through causal or linear progression, and to support modern, realistic protocols of reading. As this essay demonstrates, Catton undercuts those claims, and frustrates such readings, by emphasizing multiple paths of comprehension and multiple voices of narration. The Luminaries embraces its multiple structural mechanisms, but is not dominated by any of them.

  10. Thirty years of the new astronomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rowan-Robinson, M.

    1990-01-01

    In an overview of advances in astrophysics over the last thirty years, the author expounds some of the important discoveries and how they have contributed to our understanding of star formation and evolution. The starting point for these new ideas has been exploring the non-visible radiations of the universe. Telescopes and observatories have been tuned to receive infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma ray and radiowave emissions. Radio astronomy revealed the existence of interstellar molecular clouds where stars are born. The discovery of the uniform microwave background radiation has suggested that the Universe started as a hot big bang. The inflationary model of cosmology provides answers to some problems of the big bang theory and predicts the existence of dark, nonluminous, matter which some infrared observations have confirmed. The author ends by providing a modern, astrophysical, description of the constellations so familiar to mediaeval astrologers. (UK)

  11. Geometry of the Mesopotamian "ecliptic"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurtik, G. E.

    2018-02-01

    The article deals with the history of ecliptic as an element of the mathematical astronomy in Ancient Mesopotamia. It contains data from the cuneiform sources of the 2nd - 1st millennia BC and from the modern studies shedding light on the following three questions: 1) the idea of the celestial sphere in Mesopotamian astronomy; 2) the geometric representations associated with the ecliptic; 3) the positions of the ecliptic relative to the fixed stars and to the Sun. It is shown that although we do not have solid evidences, however, there are serious reasons to believe that in the Seleucid period in the mathematical astronomy and astrology the ecliptic was conceived geometrically as a circle divided into 12 equal parts. It is also shown that in this period the ecliptic was not yet identified with the projection of annual path of the Sun to the celestial sphere.

  12. Signs vs. Causes? An Epistemological Approach to Prognosis in the Latin Middle Ages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Fidora

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available From the 12th century onwards, prognostic disciplines were part and parcel of the Latin ordo scientiarum. This is true for astrology and divination as well as for medicine and weather forecasting. While scholarly research has focused very much on the moral discussions of knowledge of the future in the Middle Ages, the epistemological challenge of integrating this form of knowledge into a coherent theoretical framework has been neglected so far. This article shows how the traditional account of prognostic disciplines as sign-based forms of knowledge was revised and refined during the 13 th century in the light of new philosophical (Aristotelian and also theological paradigms. As a result of this, Latin philosophers and theologians established important criteria which allowed for a clear-cut epistemological distinction between different forms of prognostic signs and thus radicalized the discussion about the legitimacy of some prognostic disciplines.

  13. Ancient Chinese observations of physical phenomena attending solar eclipses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, P.K.; Siscoe, G.L.

    1980-01-01

    The realization that solar activity probably undergoes changes in qualitative character on time scales greater than the 11 or 22 year cycle but short compared to the duration of recorded history gives renewed importance to historical documents describing the state of solar activity. Modern eclipse observation reveal the presence of solar acitivity through the appearance of coronal structures and prominences. It has been widely remarked that eclipse records prior to the 18th century are uniformly silent on these conspicuous solar eclipse features, raising the possibility, however unlikely, that a change in solar activity has occurred which rendered them only recently noticeable. We present here material from ancient Chinese sources, primarily astrological, that describe phenomena attending solar eclipses that are almost certainly coronal structures and prominences. Thus, these aspects of the present character of solar activity have apparently occurred at other times in history, if not continuously. (orig.)

  14. The inspiration of astronomical phenomena (INSAP). Proceedings. Conference, Rocca di Papa (Italy), 27 Jun - 2 Jul 1994.

    Science.gov (United States)

    The papers concern the inspiration provided by astronomy to the fields of art, philosophy, religion and various human cultures. Individual papers cover the following topics: the Qur'anic conception of astronomical phenomena on Islamic civilization, the Milky Way and society, the mythology and ritual of India, the Varanasi Sun temples, celestial bodies meanings in pre-Hispanic Mexico, the celestial basis of civilization, Mexican eclipse imagery, Chinese dynastic ideology - astrological origins, NW Europe stone rows, stars and seasons in southern Africa, the Pleiades and Hesperides, stars and philosophy, the search for extraterrestrial life, the significance of the pre-Copernican revolution, Judaeo-Christian revelation, Maria Magdalena - the Morning Star, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, stellar poetry, John Bauer's star-spangled fairy-tale world, Polish romantic poetry, the expansion of astronomical horizons, recent comet research and ancient sky implications, civilization Spenglerian model and punctuational crises, Anaxagoras and the scientist/laity interaction.

  15. Astronomical knowledge transmission through illustrated Aratea manuscripts

    CERN Document Server

    Dolan, Marion

    2017-01-01

    This carefully researched monograph is a historical investigation of the illustrated Aratea astronomical manuscript and its many interpretations over the centuries. Aratus' 270 B.C.E. Greek poem describing the constellations and astrological phenomena was translated and copied over 800 years into illuminated manuscripts that preserved and illustrated these ancient stories about the constellations. The Aratea survives in its entirety due to multiple translations from Greek to Latin and even to Arabic, with many illuminated versions being commissioned over the ages. The survey encompasses four interrelated disciplines: history of literature, history of myth, history of science, and history of art. Aratea manuscripts by their nature are a meeting place of these distinct branches, and the culling of information from historical literature and from the manuscripts themselves focuses on a wider, holistic view; a narrow approach could not provide a proper prospective. What is most essential to know about this work is...

  16. National Calendar-2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghedrovici, Vera; Svet, Maria; Matvei, Valeria; Perju, Elena; Sargun, Maria; Netida, Maria

    2009-10-01

    The calendar represents a few hundreds of biographies of scientists, artists and writers from everywhere, printed in chronological order and adjusted to their birthdays. A number of international and national holydays, including some refering to science are included in the Calendar. A great deffect of the Calendar is the introduction in the list of holydays of the "international day of astrology". Another defect is the absence of the indication of the membership to Communist Parties for persons cited from the former USSR and former Communist Countries. The following physicists, astronomers and mathematicians had biographies in the actual issue: Kon, Lia Z., Arnautov, Vladimir I. (math), Tsukerblat, B., Kapitza, P., Donici (Donitch), N.N., Sklodowska-Curie, Maria, da Vinci, Leonardo, Birkhof, George David, Galilei, Galileo, Pisarzhveskij, Lev (chemist), Mossbauer, Rudolf Ludwig, Clochisner (Klokishner), Sofia I., Miscoi (Mishkoy), Gh. (Math), Mendel, Gregor Lohan (genet.), Glavan, Vasile (math), Chetrus (Ketrush), P. (chem), Bostan, Ion (mech. eng.), Boltzmann, Ludwig Ed.

  17. Stars come down to Earth As estrelas descem à Terra

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Marcelo Brandão Carneiro

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Stars come down to Earth — A little known essay by Theodor W. Adorno, Stars Come Down to Earth is a study about horoscopes and superstition, written in the form of an analysis for the astrology column of the Los Angeles Times in the early 1950s. The German philosopher points out that the texts offered to the reader are an amalgam of the rational and the irrational, revealing the frankly ideological meanderings of their object. Obra não muito conhecida de Theodor W. Adorno, As estrelas descem à Terra é um estudo sobre horóscopo e superstição, originalmente dirigido à coluna de astrologia do Los Angeles Times do início dos anos 1950. O filósofo alemão, pontuando os textos oferecidos aos leitores como um mistura entre o racional e o irracional, revela os meandros do caráter francamente ideológico de seu objeto.

  18. Newton’s apple and other myths about science

    CERN Document Server

    Kampourakis, Kostas

    2015-01-01

    A falling apple inspired Isaac Newton’s insight into the law of gravity—or so the story goes. Is it true? Perhaps not. But the more intriguing question is why such stories endure as explanations of how science happens. Newton’s Apple and Other Myths about Science brushes away popular misconceptions to provide a clearer picture of great scientific breakthroughs from ancient times to the present. Among the myths refuted in this volume is the idea that no science was done in the Dark Ages, that alchemy and astrology were purely superstitious pursuits, that fear of public reaction alone led Darwin to delay publishing his theory of evolution, and that Gregor Mendel was far ahead of his time as a pioneer of genetics. Several twentieth-century myths about particle physics, Einstein’s theory of relativity, and more are discredited here as well. In addition, a number of broad generalizations about science go under the microscope of history: the notion that religion impeded science, that scientists typically a...

  19. Practical Divinity and Medical Ethics: Lawful versus Unlawful Medicine in the Writings of William Perkins (1558–1602)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gevitz, Norman

    2013-01-01

    This article examines for the first time the theologically based medical ethics of the late sixteenth-century English Calvinist minister William Perkins. Although Perkins did not write a single focused book on the subject of medical ethics, he addressed a variety of moral issues in medicine in his numerous treatises on how laypeople should conduct themselves in their vocations and in all aspects of their daily lives. Perkins wrote on familiar issues such as the qualities of a good physician, the conduct of sick persons, the role of the minister in healing, and obligations in time of pestilence. His most significant contribution was his distinction between “lawful” and “unlawful” medicine, the latter category including both medical astrology and magic. Perkins's works reached a far greater audience in England and especially New England than did the treatises of contemporary secular medical ethics authors and his writings were influential in guiding the moral thinking of many pious medical practitioners and laypersons. PMID:22235029

  20. Kepler's theory of force and his medical sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Regier, Jonathan

    2014-01-01

    Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) makes extensive use of souls and spiritus in his natural philosophy. Recent studies have highlighted their importance in his accounts of celestial generation and astrology. In this study, I would like to address two pressing issues. The first is Kepler's context. The biological side of his natural philosophy is not naively Aristotelian. Instead, he is up to date with contemporary discussions in medically flavored natural philosophy. I will examine his relationship to Melanchthon's anatomical-theological Liber de anima (1552) and to Jean Femel's very popular Physiologia (1567), two Galenic sources with a noticeable impact on how he understands the functions of life. The other issue that will direct my article is force at a distance. Medical ideas deeply inform Kepler's theories of light and solar force (virtus motrix). It will become clear that they are not a hindrance even to the hardcore of his celestial physics. Instead, he makes use of soul and spiritus in order to develop a fully mathematized dynamics.

  1. DOES SURŪRĮ HAVE A BOOK CALLED “AĤKĀM-I NÜCŪM”? / SURŪRĮ’NĐN AĤKĀM-I NÜCŪM ĐSĐMLĐ BIR ESERĐ VAR MI?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. Hakan YAMAN

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available One of the famous scientists of the Kanuni period, GeliboluluSururi, gained his reputation by his commentary-books and his translations.His commentaries to “Mesnevi” and “Sebistan-i Hayal” which made himfamous, his books in Arabic and Farsi and his translations from theselanguages can be mentioned as major parts of his work. Although it is notexactly known how many books he published, total number of his books areassumed to be around 30 including his translations and compilations. One ofhis translations was famous cosmology book of the time “Kitabü’l-aca’ibve’l-Gara’ib” by Kazvini. Although most of the sources about “Sururi” claimhim to author a book about “ilm-i nücum” (science of stars, the mentionedbook is unfortunately not available in any library. In this article we will try toverify whether Sururi really authored an astrology book, making use ofdependable sources available.

  2. Practical divinity and medical ethics: lawful versus unlawful medicine in the writings of William Perkins (1558-1602).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gevitz, Norman

    2013-04-01

    This article examines for the first time the theologically based medical ethics of the late sixteenth-century English Calvinist minister William Perkins. Although Perkins did not write a single focused book on the subject of medical ethics, he addressed a variety of moral issues in medicine in his numerous treatises on how laypeople should conduct themselves in their vocations and in all aspects of their daily lives. Perkins wrote on familiar issues such as the qualities of a good physician, the conduct of sick persons, the role of the minister in healing, and obligations in time of pestilence. His most significant contribution was his distinction between "lawful" and "unlawful" medicine, the latter category including both medical astrology and magic. Perkins's works reached a far greater audience in England and especially New England than did the treatises of contemporary secular medical ethics authors and his writings were influential in guiding the moral thinking of many pious medical practitioners and laypersons.

  3. Reorganização de saberes tradicionais em Los sorias, de Alberto Laiseca

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Graciela Ravetti

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Resumo: Neste estudo, propõe-se uma consideração sobre a reformulação de saberes tradicionais em termos não metafísicos na obra do escritor argentino Alberto Laiseca, Los sorias (1998, construída a partir da convergência dos temas das religiões, da magia e da astrologia, lado a lado com outros saberes em face de (deshierarquização. Palavras chave: Literatura hispano-americana; literatura argenti­na; romance contemporâneo; ficção científica. Abstract: In this study, we propose a consideration on the reformulation of traditional knowledge in no metaphysical terms in the work of Argentine writer Alberto Laiseca, Los sorias (1998, constructed from the convergence of the themes of religion, magic and astrology alongside with other knowledge in the face of de-hierarchization. Keywords: Argentine literature; contemporary romance, science fiction, Spanish American literature.

  4. Michael Maier--nine newly discovered letters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenke, Nils; Roudet, Nicolas; Tilton, Hereward

    2014-02-01

    The authors provide a transcription, translation, and evaluation of nine newly discovered letters from the alchemist Michael Maier (1568-1622) to Gebhardt Johann von Alvensleben (1576-1631), a noble landholder in the vicinity of Magdeburg. Stemming from the final year of his life, this correspondence casts new light on Maier's biography, detailing his efforts to secure patronage amid the financial crisis of the early Thirty Years' War. While his ill-fated quest to perfect potable gold continued to form the central focus of his patronage suits, Maier also offered his services in several arts that he had condemned in his printed works, namely astrology and "supernatural" magic. Remarks concerning his previously unknown acquaintance with Heinrich Khunrath call for a re-evaluation of Maier's negotiation of the discursive boundaries between Lutheran orthodoxy and Paracelsianism. The letters also reveal Maier's substantial contribution to a work previously ascribed solely to the English alchemist Francis Anthony.

  5. Exploring Ancient Skies A Survey of Ancient and Cultural Astronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Kelley, David H

    2011-01-01

    Exploring Ancient Skies brings together the methods of archaeology and the insights of modern astronomy to explore the science of astronomy as it was practiced in various cultures prior to the invention of the telescope. The book reviews an enormous and growing body of literature on the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, the Far East, and the New World (particularly Mesoamerica), putting the ancient astronomical materials into their archaeological and cultural contexts. The authors begin with an overview of the field and proceed to essential aspects of naked-eye astronomy, followed by an examination of specific cultures. The book concludes by taking into account the purposes of ancient astronomy: astrology, navigation, calendar regulation, and (not least) the understanding of our place and role in the universe. Skies are recreated to display critical events as they would have appeared to ancient observers—events such as the supernova of 1054 A.D., the "lion horoscope," and the Star of Bethlehem. Explori...

  6. Exploring Ancient Skies An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Kelley, David H

    2005-01-01

    Exploring Ancient Skies brings together the methods of archaeology and the insights of modern astronomy to explore the science of astronomy as it was practiced in various cultures prior to the invention of the telescope. The book reviews an enormous and growing body of literature on the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, the Far East, and the New World (particularly Mesoamerica), putting the ancient astronomical materials into their archaeological and cultural contexts. The authors begin with an overview of the field and proceed to essential aspects of naked-eye astronomy, followed by an examination of specific cultures. The book concludes by taking into account the purposes of ancient astronomy: astrology, navigation, calendar regulation, and (not least) the understanding of our place and role in the universe. Skies are recreated to display critical events as they would have appeared to ancient observers - events such as the supernova of 1054, the 'lion horoscope' or the 'Star of Bethlehem.' Exploring An...

  7. Ways of Presenting Love in Ancient Sanskrit Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabrizia Baldissera

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This study traces the appearance and relevance of love motifs in Sanskrit texts. It deals with preclassical, classical and medieval literature, with excerpts from the Vedic scriptures, the epics, the normative texts and the courtly formalized Kāvya. Attention is paid to the change in the status of women, whose position becomes gradually more subordinate over time. Several conventional topoi of Sanskrit erotic literature are examined, such as love enjoyed in the union of the lovers, or suffered in their separation; divine love; the traditional belief that women are more passionate than men; the different religious/philosophical schools' outlook towards love; love in the dramatic theory of aesthetic experience; the importance of marriage, and marital love as opposed or complementary to illicit love. Finally there is a brief survey of a few scientific disciplines that have something to say about the experience of love, like Āyurveda, astronomy/astrology, and the treatises on Dharma and those on the science of government.

  8. A Study on the Establishment of Pochonka and Chonmun yucho in the Early Choson Dynasty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahn, Sang-Hyeon

    2009-12-01

    We investigated the formation of Pochonka (Song of the Sky Pacers) and Chonmun yucho (Selected and classified writings on astrology) of the early Choson dynasty. We recognized that the songs in these books were deeply influenced by those in a Chinese book Tong-zhi published in 1161 A.D., based on the following facts; the contents of both treatises are described in the same order; the first phrase of the song for Thai-wei-yuan has composed of five words rather than seven words; in particular, Choson's Pochonka has the song that describes the position of the Milky Way relative to asterisms, which was supplemented by the author Zheng Qiao. Since Tong-zhi were brought into Koryo in 1364 A.D., Choson's Pochonka must be formed after that time. In particular, compared with Chinese Pu-tien-ko, Choson's Pochonka stresses the colors of asterisms in order to represent the origin of each asterism with respect to the astronomers, Shih-shen, Kan-te, and Wu-Hsien. We also find that the star-charts in Pochonka and Chonsang-yolcha-punyajido (Chart of the asterisms and the regions they govern) published in the early Choson dynasty are significantly similar in names, number of stars, and shapes of asterisms in them. This fact means that the star-charts in Pochonka originated from either the parent chart of Chonsang-yolcha-punyajido or Chonsang-yolcha-punyajido itself. The parent rubbing was reappeared in 1392 A.D. and carved on stele in 1396 A.D., and so the publication of Pochonka can be dated back to A.D. 1392. Chonmun yucho is a book that was formed by footnoting Pochonka with astrological descriptions in Chinese treatises. The formation period of Chonmun yucho is estimated to be 1440-1450 A.D. from the facts such as the biographical survey of the author Yi Sunji. Furthermore, Pochonka was adopted as a textbook of the government service examination for the astronomy division in Soungwan or the Royal Bureau of Astronomy in 1430 A.D.. We inferred from these facts that Choson

  9. A Study on the Establishment of Pochonka and Chonmun yucho in the Early Choson Dynasty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang-Hyeon Ahn

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available We investigated the formation of Pochonka (Song of the Sky Pacers and Chonmun yucho (Selected and classified writings on astrology of the early Choson dynasty. We recognized that the songs in these books were deeply influenced by those in a Chinese book Tong-zhi published in 1161 A.D., based on the following facts; the contnts of both treatises are described in the same order; the first phrase of the song for Thai-wei-yuan has composed of five words rather than seven words; in particular, Choson`s Pochonka has the song that describes the position of the Milky Way relative to asterisms, which was supplemented by the author Zheng Qiao. Since Tong-zhi were brought into Koryo in 1364 A.D., Choson`s Pochonka must be formed after that time. In particular, compared with Chinese Pu-tien-ko, Choson`s Pochonka stresses the colors of asterisms in order to represent the origin of each asterism with respect to the astronomers, Shih-shen, Kan-te, and Wu-Hsien. We also find that the star-charts in Pochonka and Chonsang-yolcha-punyajido (Chart of the asterisms and the regions they govern published in the early Choson dynasty are significantly similar in names, number of stars, and shapes of asterisms in them. This fact means that the star-charts in Pochonka originated from either the parent chart of Chonsang-yolcha-punyajido or Chonsang-yolcha-punyajido itself. The parent rubbing was reappeared in 1392 A.D. and carved on stele in 1396 A.D., and so the publication of Pochonka can be dated back to A.D. 1392. Chonmun yucho is a book that was formed by footnoting Pochonka with astrological descriptions in Chinese treatises. The formation period of Chonmun yucho is estimated to be 1440-1450 A.D. from the facts such as the biographical survey of the author Yi Sunji. Furthermore, Pochonka was adopted as a textbook of the government service examination for the astronomy division in Soungwan or the Royal Bureau of Astronomy in 1430 A.D.. We inferred from these facts

  10. Factors influencing medical informatics examination grade--can biorhythm, astrological sign, seasonal aspect, or bad statistics predict outcome?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrovecki, Mladen; Rahelić, Dario; Bilić-Zulle, Lidija; Jelec, Vjekoslav

    2003-02-01

    To investigate whether and to what extent various parameters, such as individual characteristics, computer habits, situational factors, and pseudoscientific variables, influence Medical Informatics examination grade, and how inadequate statistical analysis can lead to wrong conclusions. The study included a total of 382 second-year undergraduate students at the Rijeka University School of Medicine in the period from 1996/97 to 2000/01 academic year. After passing the Medical Informatics exam, students filled out an anonymous questionnaire about their attitude toward learning medical informatics. They were asked to grade the course organization and curriculum content, and provide their date of birth; sex; study year; high school grades; Medical Informatics examination grade, type, and term; and describe their computer habits. From these data, we determined their zodiac signs and biorhythm. Data were compared by the use of t-test, one-way ANOVA with Tukey's honest significance difference test, and randomized complete block design ANOVA. Out of 21 variables analyzed, only 10 correlated with the average grade. Students taking Medical Informatics examination in the 1998/99 academic year earned lower average grade than any other generation. Significantly higher Medical Informatics exam grade was earned by students who finished a grammar high school; owned and regularly used a computer, Internet, and e-mail (pzodiac sign, zodiac sign quality, or biorhythm cycles, except when intentionally inadequate statistics was used for data analysis. Medical Informatics examination grades correlated with general learning capacity and computer habits of students, but showed no relation to other investigated parameters, such as examination term or pseudoscientific parameters. Inadequate statistical analysis can always confirm false conclusions.

  11. New ways of believing or belonging: is religion giving way to spirituality?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glendinning, Tony; Bruce, Steve

    2006-09-01

    In this article, the presence of alternative spirituality and practices within the general culture and their relationship to institutional religion are examined using national survey data collected as part of the 2001 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey. Alternative practices are found to divide into two groups of interests: concerns with personal well-being and interest in divination. Better-educated women are much more likely to engage with holistic practices associated with well-being; a minority of younger, less well-educated women are more likely to have found horoscopes, astrology, fortune-telling and tarot 'important in their lives'. Churchgoers find divination antithetical to religion while the use and salience of a range of holistic practices is as acceptable among churchgoers as it is among non-attenders and the secular (once allowance has been made for the connections between putatively alternative practices, gender, age and education). This underscores a focus on personal well-being rather than alternative spirituality in the consumption of holistic products and practices within the general culture. The study findings are used to assess claims for a spiritual revolution in modern Britain.

  12. Cognition and belief in paranormal phenomena: gestalt/feature-intensive processing theory and tendencies toward ADHD, depression, and dissociation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharps, Matthew J; Matthews, Justin; Asten, Janet

    2006-11-01

    Belief in paranormal phenomena and cryptids--unknown animals such as Bigfoot--may predispose individuals to interpret real-world objects and events in the same way that eyewitness identification can be biased by unrelated information (P. James and N. Thorpe, 1999). Psychological tendencies toward attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dissociation, and depression, even at subclinical levels, may be associated systematically with particular paranormal or cryptozoological beliefs. The authors evaluated these psychological tendencies using the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales (C. K. Conners, D. Erhardt, and E. Sparrow, 1999), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (L. Coleman & J. Clark, 1999), and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (A. T. Beck, 1996). They performed regression analyses against beliefs in ghosts, unidentified flying objects (UFOs), extrasensory perception (ESP), astrology, and cryptids. ADHD, dissociation, and depression were associated with enhanced tendencies toward paranormal and cryptozoological beliefs, although participants who believed in each of the phenomena differed from one another in predictable and psychologically distinguishable ways. Cognitively biasing influences of preexisting psychological tendencies may predispose individuals to specific perceptual and cognitive errors during confrontation of real-world phenomena.

  13. Free will and paranormal beliefs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mogi, Ken

    2014-01-01

    Free will is one of the fundamental aspects of human cognition. In the context of cognitive neuroscience, various experiments on time perception, sensorimotor coordination, and agency suggest the possibility that it is a robust illusion (a feeling independent of actual causal relationship with actions) constructed by neural mechanisms. Humans are known to suffer from various cognitive biases and failures, and the sense of free will might be one of them. Here I report a positive correlation between the belief in free will and paranormal beliefs (UFO, reincarnation, astrology, and psi). Web questionnaires involving 2076 subjects (978 males, 1087 females, and 11 other genders) were conducted, which revealed significant positive correlations between belief in free will (theory and practice) and paranormal beliefs. There was no significant correlation between belief in free will and knowledge in paranormal phenomena. Paranormal belief scores for females were significantly higher than those for males, with corresponding significant (albeit weaker) difference in belief in free will. These results are consistent with the view that free will is an illusion which shares common cognitive elements with paranormal beliefs.

  14. Ahmad al-Damanhūrī (1689-1778) and the utility of expertise in early modern Ottoman Egypt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Jane H

    2010-01-01

    Eighteenth-century Arabic manuscripts in the "uncommon sciences"--a range of mathematical, astronomical, astrological, medical, and divinatory practices-number in the thousands. In light of the economic and social upheaval over the eighteenth century this sustained production must be understood from perspectives of both intellectual and social history. Ahmad al-Damanhūrī's writings and his rise from rural orphan to head of al-Azhar Mosque suggest the role and value of expertise in the uncommon sciences, particularly as these fields brought religious scholars and ruling military elites into close relations. Precisely because the uncommon sciences bridged these two social classes, this expertise was important for individuals' social and intellectual formation. Recognizing the significance of the uncommon sciences for the history of this period offers a new reading of the work of the chronicler 'Abd al-Rahmān al-Jabartī, who used language and exemplars from the uncommon sciences to reflect on the proper and just relationship between expertise (embodied by the religious scholarly class) and the emerging state.

  15. Free will and paranormal beliefs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ken eMogi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Free will is one of the fundamental aspects of human cognition. In the context of cognitive neuroscience, various experiments on time perception, sensorimotor coordination, and agency suggest the possibility that it is a robust illusion (a feeling independent of actual causal relationship with actions constructed by neural mechanisms. Humans are known to suffer from various cognitive biases and failures, and the sense of free will might be one of them. Here I report a positive correlation between the belief in free will and paranormal beliefs (UFO, reincarnation, astrology, and psi. Web questionnaires involving 2076 subjects (978 males, 1087 females, and 11 other genders were conducted, which revealed significant positive correlations between belief in free will (theory and practice and paranormal beliefs. There was no significant correlation between belief in free will and knowledge in paranormal phenomena. Paranormal belief scores for females were significantly higher than those for males, with corresponding significant (albeit weaker difference in belief in free will. These results are consistent with the view that free will is an illusion which shares common cognitive elements with paranormal beliefs.

  16. Pseudohistory and Pseudoscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allchin, Douglas

    The dangers of pseudoscience - parapsychology, astrology, creationism, etc. - are widely criticized. Lessons in the history of science are often viewed as an educational remedy by conveying the nature of science. But such histories can be flawed. In particular, many stories romanticize scientists, inflate the drama of their discoveries, and oversimplify the process of science. They are, literally and rhetorically, myths. While based on real historical events, they distort the basis of scientific authority and foster unwarranted stereotypes. Such stories are pseudohistory. Like pseudoscience, they promote false ideas about science - in this case, about how science works. Paradoxically, perhaps, the history of pseudosciences may offer an excellent vehicle for remedying such impressions. Characteristically, textbooks of science contain just a bit of history, either in an introductory chapter or, more often, in scattered references to the great heroes of an earlier age. From such references both students and professionals come to feel like participants in a long-standing historical tradition. Yet the textbook-derived tradition in which scientists come to sense their participation is one that, in fact, never existed.

  17. Low cycle fatigue of PM/HIP astroloy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choe, S.J.; Stoloff, N.S.; Duquette, D.J. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (USA))

    Low cycle fatigue and creep-fatigue-environment interactions of PM/HIP Astrology were studied at 650 C and 725 C. Total strain range was varied from 1.5% to 2.7% at a frequency of 0.3Hz. Creep-fatigue tests were performed with 2 min. or 5 min. tensile hold times. All tests were run in high purity argon in an attempt to minimize environmental effects. Employing a tensile hold was more damaging than raising temperature by 75 C. Slopes of Coffin-Manson plots were nearly independent of temperature and hold time. Raising temperature from 650 C to 725 C did not change the transgranular (TG) crack propagation mode, whereas employing hold times caused TG+IG propagation. All samples displayed multiple fracture origins associated with inclusions located at the specimen surface; pre-existing pores did not affect fatigue crack initiation. Examination of secondary cracks showed no apparent creep damage. Oxidation in high purity argon appeared to be the major factor in LCF life degradation due to hold times.

  18. Free will and paranormal beliefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mogi, Ken

    2014-01-01

    Free will is one of the fundamental aspects of human cognition. In the context of cognitive neuroscience, various experiments on time perception, sensorimotor coordination, and agency suggest the possibility that it is a robust illusion (a feeling independent of actual causal relationship with actions) constructed by neural mechanisms. Humans are known to suffer from various cognitive biases and failures, and the sense of free will might be one of them. Here I report a positive correlation between the belief in free will and paranormal beliefs (UFO, reincarnation, astrology, and psi). Web questionnaires involving 2076 subjects (978 males, 1087 females, and 11 other genders) were conducted, which revealed significant positive correlations between belief in free will (theory and practice) and paranormal beliefs. There was no significant correlation between belief in free will and knowledge in paranormal phenomena. Paranormal belief scores for females were significantly higher than those for males, with corresponding significant (albeit weaker) difference in belief in free will. These results are consistent with the view that free will is an illusion which shares common cognitive elements with paranormal beliefs. PMID:24765084

  19. Luo Shu

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albert Ting Pat So

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Feng Shui, still popularly practiced today, was closely related to philosophy, natural science, geography, environmental science, architecture, metaphysics, and astrology in ancient China. It is basically divided into the Form School and the Compass School. The latter deals with numerology, calculation, orientation, and time. Luo Shu [洛書], associated with the eight trigrams [八卦], being an ancient Chinese magic square, forms the foundation of the Compass School. The original Luo Shu, a 3 × 3 magic square, was not unique in ancient China but the extension of it to a total of 18 to 36 standard charts was unique, which are still used by all Compass School Feng Shui masters. In this article, modern linear algebra, developed only in the mid-19th century, is employed to prove that there is a strong coherence between the 36 charts if they are treated as 36 matrices and such correspondences conscientiously agree with ancient theories of Feng Shui. This article may help to form a scientific base for the systematic understanding, development, and further research of Luo Shu–related applications.

  20. Integrative medicine is a future medicine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samosyuk, I.Z.; Chukhraev, N.V.

    2001-01-01

    An analysis is given of the modern integrative medicine basis which is the synthesis of: 1. Theology, philosophy and sociology; 2. Physico-mathematical sciences, cybernetics, chemistry and astrology; 3. Medico-biological and clinical experience; 4. Traditional and scientific medicine; 5. Use of traditional and new medical technologies. Problems of 'holistic' medicine which considers Man as a unity of biological, emotional, psychological and social phenomena are exposed. Advantages in combining the drug therapy with modern physiotherapy and physioacupuncture methods seem to be obvious. All visible effects of a disease can de represented in the following forms of changes: information-energy - biochemical - ultrastructure - tissue - clinical diseases. Self-regulation of functional systems has a multilevel structure and needs application of different methods for body recovery. Short-wave irradiation (lasers, magnetotherapy) can be used for energy restoration in functional systems or meridians, and acupuncture plays the role of a 'trigger' which activises the body recovery. Integration of Western and Oriental medicines is the way for achieving the qualitative new level of health protection

  1. The Dynamic Impact of the Tiger within Chinese Martial Arts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wing Lam

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available In Asia, there is, in general, a great reverence held for the tiger. The tiger has been imitated and reigns supreme as king of all the beasts throughout Asia. The relationship between man and tiger holds a strange duality in that as much as the tiger is feared for its fierce savagery and destructive power, it is also revered for these very same qualities and for its majestic nature. Therefore, the very symbolic essence of the tiger has permeated all levels of the Asian community and culture; art, mythology, religion, astrology, herbology, and military fighting strategies. The purpose of this article is to show the many rich aspects that the tiger exhibits, and its influence and impact on Asian culture and Chinese martial arts in particular. Martial arts such as Cantonese Hung Gar (Hong Family and Hasayfu Hung Gar (Hong Family Four Lower Tigers dedicate a portion of their systems to achieving awesome strength and speed, and to imitating the tiger’s physical prowess. By doing so, they may achieve higher levels of effectiveness within the martial arts.

  2. Du karma aux planètes From the Karma to the Planets: Arakanese Healers and their Heterogeneous Practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Céline Coderey

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available En Arakan, les conceptions de la maladie et les pratiques thérapeutiques relevant du bouddhisme theravāda, de l’astrologie, du culte des esprits, de la médecine et de bien d’autres domaines forment un ensemble signifiant et hiérarchisé. Ensemble signifiant parce que malades et thérapeutes considèrent ces conceptions et pratiques comme indissociables les unes des autres et devant donc être combinées afin de mener à bien le processus de guérison. Ensemble hiérarchisé car, à l’intérieur de celui-ci, le bouddhisme occupe une place hégémonique au niveau des valeurs. Néanmoins, dans le domaine thérapeutique, son apport est limité. Ce n’est que combinées aux pratiques astrologiques, médicales, etc. que les pratiques bouddhiques peuvent contribuer à la prévention et au soin des maladies. L’attention est ici portée sur la manière dont laquelle cette totalité signifiante et hiérarchisée s’exprime dans les pratiques des thérapeutes. Sur la base d’une étude de cas, l’article montre que souvent les thérapeutes cumulent plusieurs formations et pratiques plus ou moins hétérogènes afin de pouvoir intervenir sur le plus grand nombre possible de facteurs de la maladie : déséquilibre des éléments corporels, mauvais karma, influences planétaires néfastes, agressions par des puissances maléfiques.In Arakan, sickness-related conceptions and therapeutic practices issuing from Theravada Buddhism, astrology, spirits cult and medicine form a meaningful and hierarchical whole. This whole is meaningful because patients and healers consider that it is the combination of various conceptions and various practices which makes sense and which guarantees the succes of the healing treatement. The whole is hierarchical because conceptions and practices are organised into a hierarchy where Buddhism occupies an hegemonic position. Nevertheless, in the healing field its contribution is limited. Only if combined with

  3. Looking through the Vizão Feita por Xpo a el Rey Dom Affonso Henriques (1659 Franciscans in India and the legitimization of the Braganza monarchy

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    Barreto Xavier, Ângela

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Early modern Portuguese political providentialism has attracted significant scholarly interest in recent years. Whether in reference to the legitimization of imperialism in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to the divine justification of royal power in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (especially after 1640, to Sebastianism, the Fifth Empire and other forms of millenarism, or to the uses of astrology, scholars have demonstrated that political providentialism was a familiar language to the Portuguese monarchy. Little is known, however, about the formulation and spread of political providentialism in the Asian part of the Portuguese Empire. In this paper I provide a more complex picture of the dissemination of this language in the Estado da Índia through an analysis of the treatise Vizão de Affonso Henriques, written in Goa by Friar António de S. Thiago, in the year 1659. How does this treatise relate to metropolitan political providentialism, namely in the context of the legitimization of the Braganza monarchy? How is Franciscanism crucial in the treatise’s structure? And can the treatise be located at the crossroads of Euro-Asiatic political culture?En los últimos años el estudio del providencialismo político en el Portugal Moderno ha despertado un significativo interés académico. Ya sea como referencia a la legitimación del imperialismo de los siglos XV y XVI, ya a la justificación divina del poder real en los siglos XVI y XVII (sobre todo después de 1640, como al Sebastianismo, al Quinto Imperio y demás formas de milenarismo o a los usos de la astrología, los especialistas han demostrado que el providencialismo era una lenguaje conocido en la monarquía portuguesa. Poco se sabe, sin embargo, de su formulación y propagación en la parte asiática del Imperio portugués. En este trabajo se propone una imagen más compleja de la difusión del providencialismo político en el Estado de la India a través de un an

  4. Simultaneity, relativity and conventionality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janis, Allen I.

    2008-01-01

    The view of simultaneity presented by Max Jammer is almost breathtaking, encompassing, as the book's subtitle suggests, the period from antiquity to the 21st century. Many interesting things are to be found along the way. For example, what Jammer (p. 49) says "may well be regarded as probably the earliest recorded example of an operational definition of distant simultaneity" is due to St. Augustine (in his Confessions, written in 397 A.D.; for a modern translation, see Augustine, 2006). He was arguing against astrology by presenting the story of two women, one rich and one poor, who gave birth simultaneously. Although the two children thus had precisely the same horoscopes, their lives followed quite different courses. And how was it determined that the births were simultaneous? A messenger went from each birth site to the other, leaving the instant the child was born (and, presumably, traveling with equal speeds). Since the messengers met at the midpoint between the locations of the two births, the births must have been simultaneous. This is, of course, quite analogous to Albert Einstein's definition of simultaneity (given more than 1500 years later), which will be discussed in Section 2.1.

  5. Circulation of Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boitani, P.

    2016-01-01

    Since the dawn of man, contemplation of the stars has been a primary impulse in human beings, who proliferated their knowledge of the stars all over the world. Aristotle sees this as the product of primeval and perennial “wonder” which gives rise to what we call science, philosophy, and poetry. Astronomy, astrology, and star art (painting, architecture, literature, and music) go hand in hand through millennia in all cultures of the planet (and all use catasterisms to explain certain phenomena). Some of these developments are independent of each other, i.e., they take place in one culture independently of others. Some, on the other hand, are the product of the “circulation of stars.” There are two ways of looking at this. One seeks out forms, the other concentrates on the passing of specific lore from one area to another through time. The former relies on archetypes (for instance, with catasterism), the latter constitutes a historical process. In this paper I present some of the surprising ways in which the circulation of stars has occurred—from East to West, from East to the Far East, and from West to East, at times simultaneously.

  6. Sociology of religion and the occult revival

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lennart Ejerfeldt

    1975-01-01

    Full Text Available The "new" that makes the cults of the occult revival to "new religions" of the Western world, is their recently increased social significance. Historically most of modern occultism is anything but new. From the research and theorizing about the occult revival we have picked up some main themes. The first is the social diffusion of the new occultism. In this field, we find some studies of superstition, especially astrology. These illuminate the differences in social connotation between the consumers of superstition and the followers of institutional religion. Secondly the study of the occult revival has made valuable contributions to the conceptualizing of "cult" and the cultic phenomenon. Thirdly, we will look upon the connection between the occult revival and the counter-culture. The problem of the rise of cults as a symptom of socio-cultural change will be briefly discussed with reference to Bell's thesis of "the disjuntion of culture and social structure". Lastly, we proffer some reflections on the occult revival and the new spiritual trends in the churches, which so sharply contrast with the theology and churchmanship of the sixties.

  7. Aion, Eros e Hades nei frammenti caldaici

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    Silvia Lenzi

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The essay deals with some aspects of the knotty question concerning the presence of Aion, Eros and Hades in the variegated universe of the Chaldean Oracles, traditionally attributed to a collaboration between two “Hellenized Magi” of the second c. AD: Julian “the Chaldean” and his son Julian “the Theurgist” (even if the theurgical expertise of the elder Julian, the repository of a more ancient Chaldean tradition, might not involve a direct eastern origin but only his knowledge of “Chaldean” sciences such as astrology and divination”. Aion, who is examined here in terms of his relationship with Chronos, as a more or less autonomous divinity, is mentioned only in the context of some fragments, but his name never appears in the oracular verses. Eros (beloging also to the triad of fr. 46, along with “Faith” and “Truth” stands for an independent cosmological principle whose task is to preserve the universe and the armony of the cosmos. The Chaldean Oracles never make any explicit mention of Hades, who anyway is cited by the Byzantine scholar Psellos as an autonomous divinity of the Chaldeans.

  8. Astronomical Books and Charts in the Book of Bibliographie Coreenne

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ki-Won; Yang, Hong-Jin; Park, Myeong-Gu

    2008-06-01

    We investigate astronomical materials listed in the book of Bibliographie Coréenne written by Maurice Courant. He classified ancient Korean books into nine Divisions (?) and thirty six Classes (?), and published them as three volumes (ranging from 1894 to 1896) and one supplement (in 1901). In total, 3,821 books including astronomical ones are listed together with information on physical size, possessional place, bibliographical note, and so forth. Although this book is an essential one in the field of Korea bibliography and contains many astronomical materials such as Cheon-Mun-Ryu-Cho ????, Si-Heon-Seo ??????, and Cheon-Sang-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do ????????, it has not been well known to the public nor to astronomical society. Of 3,821 catalogues, we found that about 50 Items (?) are related to astronomy or astrology, and verified that most ! of them are located in the Kyujanggak Royal Library ???. We also found an unknown astronomical chart, Hon-Cheon-Chong-Seong-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do ??????????. Because those astronomical materials are not well known to international astronomical community and there have been few studies on the materials in Korea, we here introduce and review them, particularly with the astronomical viewpoint.

  9. The influence of the Chinese zodiac on fertility in Hong Kong SAR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yip, Paul S F; Lee, Joseph; Cheung, Y B

    2002-11-01

    The annual total of births in Hong Kong SAR fell substantially in the past 20 years; hence the total fertility rate (TFR) followed the downward trend and dropped to a low of 0.9 below replacement level in 2000. Despite the long-term downward trend, short-run increases in the annual total of births and the TFR were exhibited. Such temporary fertility increases are identified in the Dragon Years of 1988 and 2000. The phenomenon of fertility changes associated with zodiacal animal years is examined in this paper with a view to gaining some insight into whether Chinese cultural preferences and folklore beliefs might have influenced prospective parents' reproductive behaviour. The paper explains the underlying philosophy of the Chinese astrological tradition and discusses how zodiacal preferences affect fertility between 1976 and 2000. The paper also explores why zodiacal influences on Chinese fertility before 1976 did not exist. It is unquestionable that the Dragon Year preference exerts an influence on fertility of modern Chinese populations through zodiacal birth-timing motivations. Birth rate rise in the Dragon Year is due to changes in timing of births that will have little effect on cumulative fertility.

  10. History of initial fifty years of ARIES: A Major National Indian Facility for Optical Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanwal, Basant Ballabh; Pandey, Anil Kumar; Uddin, Wahab; Kumar, Brijesh; Joshi, Santosh

    2018-04-01

    The idea of starting an astronomical observatory in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India germinated through the initiative of a scholarly statesman Babu Sampurnanandji. His interest in astrology coupled with his academic bent of mind got him interested in modern astronomy. Being then Education Minister and later Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he established an astronomical observatory at Varanasi on April 20, 1954. Later on it was shifted to Manora Peak, Nainital. Four reflectors were commissioned at Manora Peak. For solar research an H alpha petrol unit and a horizontal solar spectrograph was setup. A detailed project report for installation of a 4-m class optical telescope was prepared indigenously in late 1980, however, the project could not take off. With the generous support of the Department of Science and Technology, the institute established a 3.6-m new technology optical telescope and a 1.3-m wide field optical telescope at a new observing site called Devasthal. Now a 4-m liquid mirror telescope is also being installed at the same observing site. I present here a brief journey of the observatory beginning right from its birth in 1954 till now.

  11. The last ride of Henry II of France: orbital injury and a king's demise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eftekhari, Kian; Choe, Christina H; Vagefi, M Reza; Eckstein, Lauren A

    2015-01-01

    Jousting was a popular pastime for royalty in the Renaissance era. Injuries were common, and the eye was particularly at risk from the splinters of the wooden lance. On June 30, 1559, Henry II of France participated in a jousting tournament to celebrate two royal weddings. In the third match, Gabriel de Montgomery struck Henry on the right shoulder and the lance splintered, sending wooden shards into his face and right orbit. Despite being cared for by the prominent physicians Ambroise Paré and Andreas Vesalius, the king died 10 days later and was found to have a cerebral abscess. The wound was not explored immediately after the injury; nevertheless, wooden foreign bodies were discovered in the orbit at the time of autopsy. The dura had not been violated, suggesting that an infection may have traveled from the orbit into the brain. Nostradamus and Luca Guarico, the astrologer to the Medici family, had prophesied the death of Henry II of France, but he ignored their warnings and thus changed the course of history in Renaissance Europe. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Paśu Ayurvĕda (veterinary medicine) in Garudapurăņa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varanasi, Subhose; Narayana, A

    2007-01-01

    The history of veterinary medicine is closely tied to the development of human medicine. Evidence of animal medicine has been found in ancient civilizations, such as those of the Hindu, Babylonians, Hebrews, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. Ancient Indian literature in the form of the holy Vĕda, Purăna, Brăhmaņa, epics, etc. is flooded with information on animal care. The Purăņa are ancient scriptures discuss varied topics like devotion to God and his various aspects, traditional sciences like Ayurvĕda, Jyŏtişa (Astrology), cosmology, concepts like dharma, karma, reincarnation and many others. The treatment of animal diseases using Ayurvedic medicine has been mentioned in Garudapurăna, Agnipurăņa, Atri-samhită, Matsyapurăņa and many other texts. The Garudapurăņa is one of the important Săttvika purăna, the subject matter is divided into two parts, viz. Pŭrvakhaņda (first part) and an Uttarakhaņda (subsequent part). Gavăyurvĕda, Gajăyurvĕda narrated briefly and Aśvăyurvĕda described detailly in Pŭrvakhaņda.

  13. How Oedipus falsifies Popper: psychoanalysis as a normative science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wax, M L

    1983-05-01

    The scientific status of psychoanalysis has been the subject of continual debate. Influential philosophers of science have challenged the form of its theories and the nature of the evidence offered on their behalf. Some have concluded that the theories are beyond testing--i.e., they can neither be confirmed nor refuted, and psychoanalysis is thus intrinsically unscientific, akin to pseudosciences such as astrology. From that body of criticism, I have chosen for examination and rebuttal the issue of falsifiability. I refute the charge that psychoanalysis is not scientific because its theories are not "falsifiable." On the contrary, I show that psychoanalysis contains theories which make strong and unequivocal statements that are subject to the test of possible falsification. This capacity has been concealed and the falsifiability criticism rendered plausible because of the normative judgments which are latent in discussions of human development and human society. In explicating these judgments, I will move from the philosophy of science to the anthropology and sociology of science (and of the professions). The normative character of psychoanalytic science reinforces the ethical code of the therapeutic profession, a combination which imposes a disciplinary rigidity of the theoretical system.

  14. Blood group astrology - why the AB0 blood groups do not determine the human character nor the appropriate nutrition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martina Gajšek Grbec

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available AB0 blood groups are inherited markers on blood cells. Since their discovery, there were numerous attempts to be attributed a wide variety of biological functions they don’t possess. The purpose of this article is primarily to inform the professional, as well as lay public that the theory of healthy nutrition based on AB0 blood groups represents nothing more than a pseudoscience used for mass exploitation and commercial purposes. ABO blood groups were attributed such characteristics by naturopathic doctor Peter D'Adamo, who on the basis of false methods and erroneous assumptions wrote a bestseller "Eat Right For Your Type". It claims that the blood groupsAB0 represent a "key to the functioning of our immune system" and that the blood group based diet represents a “key to the health of every man”. As in the case of nutrition based on the ABO blood groups, the scientific knowledge in the field of immunohematology is misused to mislead the lay public, we are obliged to explain the real meaning and the role of blood groups in health and disease, the misuse of blood groups in relation to healthy nutrition.

  15. Supernatural beliefs, aetiological models and help seeking behaviour in patients with schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kate, Natasha; Grover, Sandeep; Kulhara, Parmanand; Nehra, Ritu

    2012-01-01

    Few studies have evaluated the supernatural beliefs of patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to study the personal beliefs, aetiological models and help seeking behaviour of patients with schizophrenia using a self-rated questionnaire. Seventy three patients returned the completed supernatural Attitude questionnaire. 62% of patients admitted that people in their community believed in sorcery and other magico-religious phenomena. One fourth to half of patients believed in ghosts/evil spirit (26%), spirit intrusion (28.8%) and sorcery (46.6%). Two-third patients believed that mental illness can occur either due to sorcery, ghosts/evil spirit, spirit intrusion, divine wrath, planetary/astrological influences, dissatisfied or evil spirits and bad deeds of the past. 40% of the subjects attributed mental disorders to more than one of these beliefs. About half of the patients (46.6%) believed that only performance of prayers was sufficient to improve their mental status. Few patients (9.6%) believed that magico-religious rituals were sufficient to improve their mental illness but about one-fourth (24.7%) admitted that during recent episode either they or their caregivers performed magico-religious rituals. Supernatural beliefs are common in patients with schizophrenia and many of them attribute the symptoms of mental disorders to these beliefs.

  16. The Inner Meaning of Outer Space: Human Nature and the Celestial Realm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timothy L. Hubbard

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Kant argued that humans possess a priori knowledge of space; although his argument focused on a physics of bodies, it also has implications for a psychology of beings. Many human cultures organize stars in the night sky into constellations (i.e., impose structure; attribute properties, behaviors, and abilities to objects in the celestial realm (i.e., impose meaning; and use perceived regularity in the celestial realms in development of calendars, long-range navigation, agriculture, and astrology (i.e., seek predictability and control. The physical inaccessibility of the celestial realm allows a potent source of metaphor, and also allows projection of myths regarding origin and ascension, places of power, and dwelling places of gods, immortals, and other souls. Developments in astronomy and cosmology infl uenced views of human nature and the place of humanity in the universe, and these changes parallel declines in egocentrism with human development. Views regarding alleged beings (e.g., angels, extraterrestrials from the celestial realm (and to how communicate with such beings are anthropocentric and ignore evolutionary factors in physical and cognitive development. It is suggested that in considering views and uses of the celestial realm, we learn not just about the universe, but also about ourselves. *

  17. El mundo mágico en el Madrid de los Austrias a través de las cartas, avisos y relaciones de sucesos

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    Vitar, Beatriz

    2001-06-01

    Full Text Available The author analyzes the different expressions of the magic in Madrid under the Hapsburgs, in the context of the Baroque mentality and the morality of the Counter-Reformation. These expressions were, among others, asthrology, the casting of horoscopes, palmistry, witchcraft and the interpretation of unusual or extraordinary events. The author aims to show the way in which the Crown as well as the Church often used these expressions for their own interests, thereby preserving the status quo and the people's disfranchisement.

    En este artículo se analizan las distintas manifestaciones de lo mágico en el Madrid de los Austrias, en el marco de la mentalidad del Barroco y de la moral contrarreformista. Entre los aspectos estudiados se encuentran prácticas mágicas tales como la astrología y la confección de horóscopos, la quiromancia o la brujería, así como sucesos anormales o extraordinarios. A través de este estudio se intenta mostrar el modo en que dichas manifestaciones eran manipuladas por la monarquía y la Iglesia en su provecho, a fin de mantener el statu-quo y la sumisión de los súbditos.

  18. De temperamentis disputatio medica (1593 – a forgotten work of Daniel Naborowski

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    Agnieszka Raubo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The article describes a forgotten work of Daniel Naborowski – “De temperamentis disputatio medica” (1593. Naborowski was a poet who lived at the turn of the 17th century and the work considered here is the result of his medical studies in Switzerland. The article addresses the poet’s scholarly interests, but first and foremost, it focuses on the subject of the research – the theory of temperaments. With ancient lineage and extremely popular in the sixteenth century, the theory was most frequently presented in the contexts of physiognomy, astrology and the lesions that were conditioned by the theory, yet in Naborowski’s work, it gained a new, solely theoretical perspec-tive. It was also concerned with the meticulous consideration of the systematics of temperaments (e.g. their differentiation – one was moderate and eight were merged, as well as their detailed division. The style of these considerations is characteristic for medical works of that period, and they constitute an interesting example of how practical issues in 16th and 17th century medicine were systematized. Furthermore, Naborowski’s considerations are a vivid example of permeable nature of disciplines – philosophy and medicine, and medicine with the broadly understood field of the humanities.

  19. Starry Cities and Astrolies - Books to communicate with the public

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanic, N.

    2008-06-01

    Extragalactic worlds have been presented as star cities in a book of original design - STARRY CITIES - galaxies and time travel, the first book about galaxies written in Serbian for the general public. This book isn't written just for those interested in science, but for all kind of artists, philosophers and thinkers. A second book, ASTROLIES deals with common confusions concerning astronomy and astrology. These two books don't only offer interesting illustrations, data from the latest astronomical observations and currently accepted cosmological theories - they induce, by provoking curiosity in a specific and witty way, a sense of adventure and a challenge to explore. The publisher of both books is the oldest and the biggest publisher of text-books in Serbia, Zavod za udzbenike i nastavna sredstva2, currently celebrating 50 years in publishing (1957-2007). They already publish a dozen books in popular astronomy, but a special astronomical series for the general public was introduced in 2004. STARRY CITIES and ASTROLIES are part of the ongoing multidisciplinary project Astronomy. Inspiration. Art that started at the end of 2004 at the Public Observatory in Belgrade. This project intends to inspire (or perhaps even "infect") artists with cosmic themes and the fantastic scenery of the Universe.

  20. Perceptions of Eighth Graders Concerning the Aim, Effectiveness, and Scientific Basis of Pseudoscience: the Case of Crystal Healing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metin, Duygu; Cakiroglu, Jale; Leblebicioglu, Gulsen

    2017-12-01

    Practices such as astrology or crystal healing can be defined as pseudoscience. Against pseudoscience, one of the major responsibilities of science education must be to develop science-literate individuals who are able to understand what science is, how science is undertaken, how scientific knowledge is constructed, and how it is justified, then they will be able to determine whether a claim is valid and be alert to practices which fall outside the realms of science, especially those in the area of pseudoscience. For this reason, the ability of recognizing flawed process and claims of pseudoscience is referred to one of the crucial parts of science literacy. The present study aimed to uncover middle school students' understanding of the inherent aim of pseudoscientists and pseudoscientific applications related to crystals and to reveal their judgments and justifications regarding the effectiveness and scientific basis of these applications. The present study was qualitative in nature. The results of the study showed that the students were very gullible about the aim, effectiveness, and scientific basis of pseudoscientific practices and in particular the use of crystals. Furthermore, similar to pseudoscientists, the students generally used weak reasoning to evaluate the presented claims and research designs about crystals and crystal healing.

  1. [Extraterrestrial influences on health and disease].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitar, J

    1994-02-14

    As to extraterrestrial influences on man in health and disease so far only the effect of the sun and moon are known. This concerns the effect of solar radiation of different wavelengths and the effect of corpuscular solar radiation which has an impact on the condition of the terrestrial magnetic field and electric conditions in the atmosphere. Moreover there is also a question of important influences of gravitation (tides). Here the influence of the position of the moon in relation to the connecting line between sun and earth is involved. In the course of the synodic month (from new moon to the next new moon) a semilunar periodicity of different medical and geomagnetic indicators as well as meteorological ones plays a part. Based on his own research and that of others the author reaches the conclusion that extraterrestrial and terrestrial influences are interrelated and exert a mutual influence on each other and that it is not sensible to separate them strictly. Investigation of all the mentioned influences is important not only for biomedical prognosis but also for basic geophysical and meteorological research. Perspectively it would be useful to plan model experiments. The author feels it is his duty to refuse publication of different horoscopes in the mass media, whatever the intention. In the lay public this may lead to popularization of astrology which has nothing in common with serious research.

  2. Hinduism and death with dignity: historic and contemporary case examples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewar, Rajan; Cahners, Nancy; Mitchell, Christine; Forrow, Lachlan

    2015-01-01

    An estimated 1.2 to 2.3 million Hindus live in the United States. End-of-life care choices for a subset of these patients may be driven by religious beliefs. In this article, we present Hindu beliefs that could strongly influence a devout person's decisions about medical care, including end-of-life care. We provide four case examples (one sacred epic, one historical example, and two cases from current practice) that illustrate Hindu notions surrounding pain and suffering at the end of life. Chief among those is the principle of karma, through which one reaps the benefits and penalties for past deeds. Deference to one's spouse or family is another important Hindu value, especially among Hindu women, which can impact the decision-making process and challenge the Western emphasis on autonomy. In addition, the Hindu embrace of astrology can lead to a desire to control the exact time of death. Confounding any generalizations, a Hindu patient may reject or accept treatments based on the individual patient's or family's interpretation of any given tradition. Through an awareness of some of the fundamental practices in Hinduism and the role of individual interpretation within the tradition, clinicians will be better able to support their Hindu patients and families at the end of life. Copyright 2015 The Journal of Clinical Ethics. All rights reserved.

  3. Astronomical Books and Charts in the Book of Bibliographie Coreenne

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ki-Won Lee

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available We investigate astronomical materials listed in the book of Bibliographie Coreenne written by Maurice Courant. He classified ancient Korean books into nine Divisions (部 and thirty six Classes (類, and published them as three volumes (ranging from 1894 to 1896 and one supplement (in 1901. In total, 3,821 books including astronomical ones are listed together with information on physical size, possessional place, bibliographical note, and so forth. Although this book is an essential one in the field of Korea bibliography and contains many astronomical materials such as Cheon-Mun-Ryu-Cho 天文類抄, Si-Heon-Seo 時憲書, and Cheon-Sang-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 天象列次分野之圖, it has not been well known to the public nor to astronomical society. Of 3,821 catalogues, we found that about 50 Items (種 are related to astronomy or astrology, and verified that most of them are located in the Kyujanggak Royal Library 奎章閣. We also found an unknown astronomical chart, Hon-Cheon-Chong-Seong-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 渾天總星列次分野之圖. Because those astronomical materials are not well known to international astronomical community and there have been few studies on the materials in Korea, we here introduce and review them, particularly with the astronomical viewpoint.

  4. Anania Shirakatsi's Cosmographical and Natural Philosophical Views

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danielyan, Eduard

    2014-10-01

    The observation of the heaven and celestial bodies has taken place since ancient times in the Armenian Highland. The notions of the sphericity of the Earth and celestial bodies, and other theses (about elements, comparative sizes of celestial bodies, antipodes, earthquakes, criticism of astrology, etc.) were reflected and elaborated in "Cosmography" of Anania Shirakatsi (VII century AD), as well as "Ashkharhatsoyts" ("Geography") of Movses Khorenatsi (V century AD) and his continuer Anania Shirakatsi. The road of observation and study of the Milky Way - the fundamental kernel of the development of astronomy - has led the human mind to galaxies, the cognition of the infinite capabilities of the development of matter, that is to say, from the studies of the elements constituting the Earth and other spherical bodies in the Universe (studied by Aristotle) to the Heliocentric system by Copernicus (1473-1543), from the cosmogonic ideas of Democritus (460-370 BC) about the multitude of worlds and the character of the Milky Way and their reflection in natural philosophic views of Anania Shirakatsi to the discovery of non-stationary objects and processes in the Universe owing to the activity of the nuclei of galaxies, according to the cosmogonic conception of academician Victor Ambartsumyan. Anania Shirakatsi's scientific heritage greatly contributed to the development of Armenian and world natural scientific thought.

  5. An observation planning algorithm applied to multi-objective astronomical observations and its simulation in COSMOS field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Yi; Gu, Yonggang; Zhai, Chao

    2012-09-01

    Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic sky surveys are now booming, such as LAMOST already built by China, BIGBOSS project put forward by the U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and GTC (Gran Telescopio Canarias) telescope developed by the United States, Mexico and Spain. They all use or will use this approach and each fiber can be moved within a certain area for one astrology target, so observation planning is particularly important for this Sky Surveys. One observation planning algorithm used in multi-objective astronomical observations is developed. It can avoid the collision and interference between the fiber positioning units in the focal plane during the observation in one field of view, and the interested objects can be ovserved in a limited round with the maximize efficiency. Also, the observation simulation can be made for wide field of view through multi-FOV observation. After the observation planning is built ,the simulation is made in COSMOS field using GTC telescope. Interested galaxies, stars and high-redshift LBG galaxies are selected after the removal of the mask area, which may be bright stars. Then 9 FOV simulation is completed and observation efficiency and fiber utilization ratio for every round are given. Otherwise,allocating a certain number of fibers for background sky, giving different weights for different objects and how to move the FOV to improve the overall observation efficiency are discussed.

  6. A Tree-Structured List in a Mathematical Series Text from Mesopotamia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Proust, Christine

    The written culture of the Ancient Near East, whose history covers more than three millennia (from the beginning of the third millennium to the end of the first millennium BCE), underwent profound transformations over the centuries and showed many faces according to the region of the vast territory in which it developed. Yet despite the diversity of contexts in which they worked, the scholars of Mesopotamia and neighboring regions maintained and consistently cultivated a true `art of lists', in the fields of mathematics, lexicography, astrology, astronomy, medicine, law and accounting. The study of the writing techniques particular to lists represents therefore an important issue for the understanding of the intellectual history of the Ancient Near East. In this chapter, I consider extreme cases of list structures, and to do this I have chosen very long lists, most items of which are not semantically autonomous. More specifically, I shall study one of the most abstract and concise lists that have come down to us. It belongs to a series, of which one tablet is kept in the Oriental Institute in Chicago (no. A 24194). The study of this case will allow to set forth some of the writing techniques that were particularly developed in the series. Such a study of the structures of the mathematical texts could benefit other areas in Assyriology.

  7. New Perspectives in Planetarium Lectures: How to Tell Science under the Dome while Preserving the "Enchantment"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandolfi, G.; Catanzaro, G.; Giovanardi, S.; Masi, G.; Vomero, V.

    2005-12-01

    We discuss the philosophy and strategy of a modern planetarium lecture within the larger frame of the communication of astronomy. The planetarium is a peculiar medium that requires a creative and rigorous approach in order to balance the three motivating forces behind the 'planetarium experience': scientific knowledge (method and contents); technological 'sense of wonder' and a pre-rational (not necessarily anti-rational) sense of 'enchantment'. While scientific and technological resources are typically fully exploited in state-of-the-art domes, the latter concept-introduced by Max Weber in order to categorize the mystic/aesthetic impact of nature on the human mind-has not been sufficiently explored. To use it effectively demands an understanding of the public perception of astronomy, stressing the crucial role of professional communication skills for the effective communication of science. Rather than enforcing a narrow focus on pure science and/or a crusade against astrology, we believe that the planetarium experience should be a stimulating reawakening of curiosity and a holistic awareness of the sky and hence of the Universe. Fine tuning of the above three components makes the classical confl ict between the boring academic lecture under the stars versus disneyish, supertechnological shows obsolete. We present some approaches for creating "fine-tuned lectures", with examples from our experience at the Rome Planetarium.

  8. Symbolics of the constellations of sagittarius and centaurus in russian traditional culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagdasarov, R.

    2001-12-01

    Centaurus falls into the category of 'imaginary animals'. The Russian tradition used not only the symbol Sgr (a result of its acquaintance with the circle of Zodiac), but also the symbol Cen, which fact, as we shall demonstrate, is an evidence of certain mythological-astronomical conceptions. Both the constellations Sagittarius (Sgr) and Centaurus (Cen) are usually represented as versions of the picture of a fantastic being, a Centaur, shaped as man from head to waist, and as an animal, mostly, a horse, from waist down. 'Centaurus' (from the Greek word kev (or kevw)) for 'kill' and o, for 'bull') means 'bull killer', and is probably related to the opposition of the zodiacal constellations Taurus and Sagittarius. When the latter begins to rise on to the night sky, the former disappears completely from view. Sagittarius is represented at ancient monuments related to astronomy as a centaur holding a bow and pointing at certain stars. The constellation of Centaurus is also symbolised by a centaur, but holding not a bow, but a staff or a spear in one hand and an 'animal of sacrifice' in the other (Higinus, Astronomica, III, 37, 1; Chernetsov, 1975, Figure 1). The attributes stand for the Peliases Spear (The Mithological Dictionary, 1991), depicted in astrological maps as The Spear of Centaurus1, The Wolf (Lupus), the Panther or the Beast (Flammarion, 1994).

  9. Is mass media beneficial or not for the information of the general public?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavinschi, M.; Mosoia, C.

    2005-11-01

    The International Year of Physics reminds us, among other things, of the way in which Einstein became famous. In spite of all his remarkable scientific results, without the contribution of the press he would not have become so well known in the entire world as he was and continues to be after a century. And he is not the unique example of celebrity due to mass media (see Carl Sagan or Stephen Hawking). In 1969 the first man stepped on the Moon. It was maybe the first cosmic event, which became famous due to a live TV broadcast. Others followed, if we are to mention only the total solar eclipse of 1999 or Venus's transit of last year. Consequently, mass media can make a scientist famous, can also make an event understood and admired and can attract hundreds or maybe millions of people to science. The same mass media can also destroy a personality or an event. We shall give only two examples: the distrust of many people concerning the same Moon landing or the manipulation of millions of people by means of astrology. All this urges us to make a very thorough analysis of the way in which scientific information is communicated to the general public: well done, it can be beneficial; otherwise it may drive the new generations away from research, the understanding of the phenomena, the neglect of the environment and finally from the neglect and the destruction of our own planet.

  10. Political astronomy: Comet and meteor observations by Muslim historians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chander Kapoor, Ramesh

    2015-08-01

    Eclipses and unexpected phenomena like comets, meteors, novae and earthquakes were viewed among various cultures as violating the established order of the heavens. They were considered to be ill omens for kings and emperors and were routinely monitored. The present work looks into the texts of history and literature by Muslim historians and chroniclers in West Asia and India that carry stray references to such phenomena. The accounts often relate the apparitions to specific disastrous events or prognosticate revolts, deaths, epidemics, earthquakes all that that took place in later times. Obviously, the occurrences interested the astrologers more. Comet appearances would last for days and weeks but nearly all the writings lack sequential observations. Meteor showers are annual features but the Islamic calendar being lunar would not easily lead one to notice periodic nature of the incidents, let alone sensing a periodicity in comet appearances. These are non-astronomy texts with little scientific content but being from different ages permit us to see how the astronomical perceptions changed over the times. The recorded details and firm chronology, tested against modern back calculations, can provide valuable information on them, keeping in mind the text and the context in which the original reference was made. We also notice a qualitative change in the Indian writings of the 18th century and later where the authors begin to show up with influence of exposure to the European scientific progress.

  11. Astronomy in Brazilian music and poetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Freitas Mourão, Ronaldo Rogério

    2011-06-01

    The rôle of astronomy in the Brazilian cultural diversity -though little known world- has been enormous. Thus, the different forms of popular music and erudite, find musical compositions and lyrics inspired by the stars, the eclipses in rare phenomena such as the transit of Venus in front of the sun in 1882, the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1910, in the Big Bang theory. Even in the carnival parades of the blocks at the beginning of the century astronomy was present. More recently, the parade of 1997, the samba school Unidos do Viradouro, under the direction of Joãozinho Trinta, offered a new picture of the first moments of the creation of the universe to join in the white and dark in the components of their school, the idea of matter and anti-matter that reigned in the early moments of the creation of the universe in an explosion of joy. Examples in classical music include Dawn of Carlos Gomes and Carta Celeste by Almeida Prado. Unlike The Planets by Gustav Holst -who between 1914 and 1916 composed a symphonical tribute to the solar system based on astrology- Almeida Prado composed a symphony that is not limited to the world of planets, penetrating the deep cosmos of galaxies. Using various resources of the technique for the piano on the clusters and static movements, violent conflicts between the records of super acute and serious instrument, harpejos cross, etc . . .

  12. The Astronomical Instruments from the Tomb of Xiahou Zao (? - 165BCE) Revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yunli

    2012-09-01

    In 1977, archaeologists unearthed a piece of lacquerware from the tomb of Xiahou Zao (?--165BCE), the 2nd Marquis of Ruyin of the Western Han dynasty (206BCE--24ACE). It has been named ``A Lacquerware Article of Unkown Name" for no one understands its function. Our analysis shows that the article is actually a gnomon for the determination of 4 major seasons in ancient Chinese calendar, viz. Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, and the size and function of the article coincide quite well with those of the ``Earth Gnomon-Scale" as described in the Rites of Zhou, a Confucian Classic appeared in the middle of the 2nd century BCE. This is the earliest example of its kind that we have hitherto seen in a complete form. Moreover, the "Disks with 28 Lunar Lodges" from the same tomb have caused a lasting dispute over their possible function. While some scholars believe it to be a pure astrological instrument, others guess that it was an instrument for the measurement of celestial coordinates. Our analysis shows that, with the so-called ``Supporting Frame for the Cosmic Boards" unearthed from the same tomb, the disks can actually be mounted onto the plane of the celestial equator and thus form the earliest and definitely dated example of an equatorial device for astronomical observation that still can be seen in the world.

  13. Thermal and mechanical effect during rapid heating of astroloy for improving structural integrity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Popoolaa, A.P.I.; Oluwasegun, K.M.; Olorunniwo, O.E.; Atanda, P.O.; Aigbodion, V.S.

    2016-01-01

    The behaviour of γ′ phase to thermal and mechanical effects during rapid heating of Astroloy(Turbine Disc alloy) a Powder metallurgy (PM) nickel base superalloy has been investigated. The thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ) microstructure of an inertia friction welded Astroloy were simulated using a Gleeble thermo-mechanical simulation system. Detailed microstructural examination of the simulated TMAZ and HAZ and those present in actual inertial friction welded specimens showed that γ′ particles persisted during rapid heating up to a temperature where the formation of liquid is thermodynamically favoured, and subsequently re-solidified eutectically. The result obtained showed that forging during the thermo-mechanical simulation significantly enhanced resistance to weld liquation cracking of the alloy. This is attributable to strain-induced rapid isothermal dissolution of the constitutional liquation products within 150 μm from the centre of the forged sample. This was not observed in purely thermally simulated samples. The microstructure within the TMAZ of the as-welded alloy is similar to the microstructure in the forged Gleeble specimens. - Highlights: • The behaviour of γ′ phase to thermal and mechanical effects during rapid heating of Astrology • The thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ). • significantly enhanced resistance to weld liquation cracking of the alloy. • This was not observed in purely thermally simulated samples. • The microstructure within the TMAZ of the as-welded alloy is similar to the microstructure in the forged Gleeble specimens.

  14. Thermal and mechanical effect during rapid heating of astroloy for improving structural integrity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Popoolaa, A.P.I., E-mail: popoolaapi@tut.ac.za [Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria (South Africa); Oluwasegun, K.M. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria); Olorunniwo, O.E., E-mail: segun_nniwo@yahoo.com [Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria (South Africa); Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria); Atanda, P.O. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria); Aigbodion, V.S. [Department of Chemical, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria (South Africa); Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (Nigeria)

    2016-05-05

    The behaviour of γ′ phase to thermal and mechanical effects during rapid heating of Astroloy(Turbine Disc alloy) a Powder metallurgy (PM) nickel base superalloy has been investigated. The thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ) microstructure of an inertia friction welded Astroloy were simulated using a Gleeble thermo-mechanical simulation system. Detailed microstructural examination of the simulated TMAZ and HAZ and those present in actual inertial friction welded specimens showed that γ′ particles persisted during rapid heating up to a temperature where the formation of liquid is thermodynamically favoured, and subsequently re-solidified eutectically. The result obtained showed that forging during the thermo-mechanical simulation significantly enhanced resistance to weld liquation cracking of the alloy. This is attributable to strain-induced rapid isothermal dissolution of the constitutional liquation products within 150 μm from the centre of the forged sample. This was not observed in purely thermally simulated samples. The microstructure within the TMAZ of the as-welded alloy is similar to the microstructure in the forged Gleeble specimens. - Highlights: • The behaviour of γ′ phase to thermal and mechanical effects during rapid heating of Astrology • The thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ). • significantly enhanced resistance to weld liquation cracking of the alloy. • This was not observed in purely thermally simulated samples. • The microstructure within the TMAZ of the as-welded alloy is similar to the microstructure in the forged Gleeble specimens.

  15. Theories of comets to the age of Laplace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heidarzadeh, Tofigh

    Although the development of ideas about cometary motion has been investigated in several projects, a comprehensive and detailed survey of physical theories of comets has not been conducted. The available works either illustrate relatively short periods in the history of physical cometology or portray a landscape view without adequate details. The present study is an attempt to depict the details of the major physical theories of comets from Aristotle to the age of Laplace. The basic question from which this project originated was simple: how did natural philosophers and astronomers define the nature and place of a new category of celestial objects--the comets--after Brahe's estimation of cometary distances? However, a study starting merely from Brahe without covering classical and medieval thought about comets would be incomplete. Thus, based on the fundamental physical characteristics attributed to comets, the history of cometology may be divided into three periods: from Aristotle to Brahe, in which comets were assumed to be meteorological phenomena; from Brahe to Newton, when comets were admitted as celestial bodies but with unknown trajectories; and from Newton to Laplace, in which they were treated as members of the solar system having more or less the same properties of the planets. By estimating the mass of comets in the 1800s, Laplace diverted cometology into a different direction wherein they were considered among the smallest bodies in the solar system and deprived of the most important properties that had been used to explain their physical constitution during the previous two millennia. Ideas about the astrological aspects of comets are not considered in this study. Also, topics concerning the motion of comets are explained to the extent that is helpful in illustrating their physical properties. The main objective is to demonstrate the foundations of physical theories of comets, and the interaction between observational and mathematical astronomy, and

  16. Armenian Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mickaelian, Areg M.; Farmanyan, Sona V.

    2016-12-01

    A review is given on archaeoastronomy in Armenia and astronomical knowledge reflected in the Armenian culture. Astronomy in Armenia was popular since ancient times and Armenia is rich in its astronomical heritage, such as the names of the constellations, ancient observatories, Armenian rock art (numerous petroglyphs of astronomical content), ancient and medieval Armenian calendars, astronomical terms and names used in Armenian language since II-I millennia B.C., records of astronomical events by ancient Armenians (e.g. Halley's comet in 87 B.C., supernovae explosion in 1054), the astronomical heritage of the Armenian medieval great thinker Anania Shirakatsi's (612-685), medieval sky maps and astronomical devices by Ghukas (Luca) Vanandetsi (XVII-XVIII centuries) and Mkhitar Sebastatsi (1676-1749), etc. For systemization and further regular studies, we have created a webpage devoted to Armenian archaeoastronomical matters at Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS) website. Issues on astronomy in culture include astronomy in ancient Armenian cultures, ethnoastronomy, astronomy in Armenian religion and mythology, astronomy and astrology, astronomy in folklore and poetry, astronomy in arts, astrolinguistics and astroheraldry. A similar webpage for Astronomy in Armenian Culture is being created at ArAS website and a permanent section "Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture" has been created in ArAS Electronic Newsletter. Several meetings on this topic have been organized in Armenia during 2007-2014, including the archaeoastronomical meetings in 2012 and 2014, and a number of books have been published. Several institutions are related to these studies coordinated by Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) and researchers from the fields of astronomy, history, archaeology, literature, linguistics, etc. are involved.

  17. Relations between Eastern four pillars theory and Western measures of personality traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Seung Ah; Yang, Chang Soon

    2015-05-01

    The present study investigated the validity of personality classification using four pillars theory, a tradition in China and northeastern Asia. Four pillars analyses were performed for 148 adults on the basis of their birth year, month, day, and hour. Participants completed two personality tests, the Korean version of Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised-Short Version (TCI) and the Korean Inventory of Interpersonal Problems; scores were correlated with four pillars classification elements. Mean difference tests (e.g., t-test, ANOVA) were compared with groups classified by four pillars index. There were no significant correlations between personality scale scores and total yin/yang number (i.e., the 8 heavenly or earthly stems), and no significant between-groups results for classifications by yin/yang day stem and the five elements. There were significant but weak (r=0.18-0.29) correlations between the five elements and personality scale scores. For the six gods and personality scales, there were significant but weak (r=0.18-0.25) correlations. Features predicted by four pillars theory were most consistent when participants were grouped according to the yin/yang of the day stem and dominance of yin/yang numbers in the eight heavenly or earthly stems. Although the major criteria of four pillars theory were not independently correlated with personality scale scores, correlations emerged when participants were grouped according to the composite yin/yang variable. Our results suggest the utility of four pillars theory (beyond fortune telling or astrology) for classifying personality traits and making behavioral predictions.

  18. The Inner Meaning of Outer Space:Human Nature and the Celestial Realm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timothy L. Hubbard

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Kant afirmaba que los seres humanos poseen un conocimiento a priori del espacio. Aunque este argumento se centra en la física de los cuerpos, también tiene implicaciones para la psicología del ser. Muchas culturas humanas organizan las estrellas en constelaciones (imponen estructura; atribuyen propiedades, conductas y habilidades a objetos en el reino celeste (esto es, determinan significado; y usan la regularidad percibida en los reinos celestes para el desarrollo de calendarios, navegaciones de grandes distancias, agricultura y astrología (buscan predicción y control. La inaccesibilidad física del reino celeste permite una potente fuente de metáforas, así como la protección de los mitos sobre el origen y la ascensión, los lugares del poder y aquellos donde habitan dioses, seres inmortales y otras almas. Los desarrollos en astronomía y cosmología influyeron las opiniones sobre la naturaleza humana y el lugar de la humanidad en el universo; estos cambios ponen en paralelo los descensos en el egocentrismo y el desarrollo humano. Las visiones acerca de los presuntos seres (como los ángeles y los extraterrestres del reino celestial (y cómo comunicarse con esos seres son antropocéntricas e ignoran factores evolutivos del desarrollo físico y cognitivo. Se sugiere que al considerar opiniones y usos del reino celeste, aprendemos no sólo acerca del universo, sino también sobre nosotros mismos.

  19. End-of-the-World: Using Science to Dispel Public Fear

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrison, David

    2013-10-01

    Polls taken in mid-2012 indicated that 10% of Americans did not expect to survive the “end of the world” on 12/21/12. Children were especially vulnerable, and some contemplated suicide. Comets Elenin and ISON also attracted apocalyptic fears. Elenin was blamed for the several earthquakes, including the Fukushima mega-quake of 03/11/11. Such fears, which seem to harp back to earlier centuries, are now widely promulgated by the Internet and cable TV, where dozens of “documentaries” are shown every week dealing with UFOs, aliens, astrology, and a variety of cosmic threats. In this talk I recount some of my experiences and those of other scientists leading up to the 12/21/12 doomsday. We made a big effort to defuse these fears, and to warn teachers and parents that a substantial fraction of their children were in danger of being taken in by the 2012 hoax. This experience is just one example of an anti-science trend that seems to be growing in the U.S. and around the world. Prime examples are the creationist efforts to deny evolution, the similar tactics of the global warming denialists, and health hoaxes such as homeopathy and the anti-vaccination movement. As scientists, we should consider how best to communicate real science to the public, and when to “go negative” to fight against pseudoscience. We must recognize the presence of powerful anti-science forces that are well funded and skillful at exploiting new communication tools enabled by the Internet. This is a challenge for all of us.

  20. Transient cultural influences on infant mortality: Fire-Horse daughters in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruckner, Tim A; Subbaraman, Meenakshi; Catalano, Ralph A

    2011-01-01

    Parental investment theory suggests that the quality and quantity of parental care depends, in part, on assessments of whether offspring will survive and yield grandchildren. Consistent with this theory, we hypothesize that parental perception that a birth cohort will have low reproductive success coincides with higher than expected infant mortality in the cohort. We test this hypothesis in industrialized Japan in 1966 when cultural aversion to females born in the astrological year of the Fire-Horse may have jeopardized the life of female infants. We applied time-series methods to cohort infant mortality data for Japan, from 1947 to 1976, to test whether female infant mortality in 1966 rose above levels expected from history, male infant mortality, and fertility. Methods control for the secular decline in infant mortality as well as other temporal patterns that could induce spurious associations. Findings support the hypothesis in that female infant mortality rises by 1.1 deaths per 1,000 live births above expected levels (coefficient = 0.0011; standard error = 0.0005; P = 0.03). The result indicates an excess of 721 female infant deaths statistically attributable to the Fire-Horse year. Findings remain robust to control for male infant mortality and the secular decline in mortality over the test period. The discovery of a predictable, acute increase in female infant mortality during the Fire-Horse year supports the relevance of parental investment theory to developed countries. Results should encourage further research on the health sequelae of abrupt, population-level shifts in culture. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  1. THE INTER-ERUPTION TIMESCALE OF CLASSICAL NOVAE FROM EXPANSION OF THE Z CAMELOPARDALIS SHELL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shara, Michael M.; Mizusawa, Trisha; Zurek, David; Martin, Christopher D.; Neill, James D.; Seibert, Mark

    2012-01-01

    The dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis is surrounded by the largest known classical nova shell. This shell demonstrates that at least some dwarf novae must have undergone classical nova eruptions in the past, and that at least some classical novae become dwarf novae long after their nova thermonuclear outbursts. The current size of the shell, its known distance, and the largest observed nova ejection velocity set a lower limit to the time since Z Cam's last outburst of 220 years. The radius of the brightest part of Z Cam's shell is currently ∼880 arcsec. No expansion of the radius of the brightest part of the ejecta was detected, with an upper limit of ≤0.17 arcsec yr –1 . This suggests that the last Z Cam eruption occurred ≥5000 years ago. However, including the important effect of deceleration as the ejecta sweeps up interstellar matter in its snowplow phase reduces the lower limit to 1300 years. This is the first strong test of the prediction of nova thermonuclear runaway theory that the interoutburst times of classical novae are longer than 1000 years. The intriguing suggestion that Z Cam was a bright nova, recorded by Chinese imperial astrologers in October-November 77 B.C.E., is consistent with our measurements. If Z Cam was indeed the nova of 77 B.C.E. we predict that its ejecta are currently expanding at 85 km s –1 , or 0.11 arcsec yr –1 . Detection and measurement of this rate of expansion should be possible in just a few years.

  2. Hvězdářství krále Jana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Černá, Alena M.; Hadrava, Petr; Hadravová, Alena; Stluka, Martin

    The critical edition of the collection "King John's Astronomy" is based on the Old Czech manuscript written at the beginning of the 15th century which is preserved at the Library of the National Museum in Prague (ms. II F 14). The collection consists of several separate parts - first of all it contains astronomical and astrological treatises refering to Ptolemy's works. Explanations on the impact of the seven planets and twelve zodiacal signs on the fate of man, who was born under their influence, prevail in the texts. The texts which are connected with Hippocrates and Galenos' doctrines about humoral physiology and humoral pathology are another subject. They are supplemented by a treatise on blood-letting and by pharmaceutical instructions on different weight units. Another treatise deals with God, God's acts and with human fate. The manuscript also contains calendar tools for the calculation of Easter and other feasts during the year. The origin of this Old Czech text coincides with the period of the development of national languages as languages of science. Vocabulary contained in the manuscript is rich. It yields evidence about the formation of terminological systems in various fields involved in the collection. The Old Czech language of this literary monument exhibits unexpectedly archaic features. The present edition is a result of interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers from the fields of diachronic Bohemistics, classical philology, and astronomy. The publication is completed with the critical apparatus, indices, vocabulary, by a list of the chosen literature and other related supplements.

  3. Music Inspired by Astronomy: A Selected Listing for the International Year of Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraknoi, A.

    2008-11-01

    Part of the aim of the International Year of Astronomy is to show the connections between astronomy and other areas of human culture. Such connections are easily found in music, where astronomical ideas have found a wide range of expression. This is not a comprehensive listing, but a sampling of some of the pieces that are available on CD's, and that may be of particular interest to educators and astronomy enthusiasts. To qualify for the list, a piece (or the composer's vision for it) has to include some real science and not just an astronomical term in the title or in a few lyrics. For example, we do not list The Planets, by Gustav Holst, since it treats the astrological view of the planets. And we regret that Philip Glass' opera Galileo is not available on CD and therefore cannot be listed. Nor do we include the thousands of popular songs that use the moon or the stars for an easy rhyme or a quick romantic image. And, while many jazz pieces have astronomy in the title, it is often hard to know just how the piece and the astronomy go together; so we've sadly omitted jazz too. For those with old-fashioned ears, like the author, we note that no warranty is made that all these pieces are easy to listen to, but each takes some key idea from astronomy and makes music out of it. A more comprehensive discussion can be found in my article in Astronomy Education Review: http://aer.noao.edu/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=193

  4. Powder metallurgy of turbine disc alloys

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ingesten, N.G. (Dep. of Engineering Metals)

    1981-03-01

    The first part embraced a study of carbide precipitated in IN 100 and astrology powders. The powder was heat treated at temperatures between 950/sup 0/C and 1150/sup 0/C. After aging at 950-1100/sup 0/C the MC-carbides formed during atomization were replaced by M/sub 23/C/sub 6/-carbides. After 1150/sup 0/C treatments the MC carbides were present again. Precipitation comparable with that obtained in HIP:ed specimens was not observed at free particle surfaces. However, powder particles which had agglomerated during atomization often exhibited considerable precipitation at contiguous surfaces. Obviously, contact between the particles must occur if coarse precipitation at particle surfaces is to develop. Reduced PPB-precipitation was obtained by pre-heat- treatment of powder before compaction. It is suggested that the carbon otherwise available for PPB-precipitation forms carbides in the interior of the powder particles. The aim of the second part was to ..gamma..-strengthen a Co-based super-alloy (Co-15Cr-3Mo-5Ti). Here the Ti-addition gives a coherent and ordered ..gamma..-phase Co/sub 3/Ti. However, upon ageing the alloy is unstable in order to increase the stability modifications of the alloy were prepared by: leaving out the Mo-content, adding 10 % Ni and by decreasing the Ti-content to 4.2 %. In addition, the effect of enhanced grain size and of deformation was investigated. Significant reduction of the transformation rate was only obtained by decresing the Ti-content while deformation of the alloy greatly increased the transformation rate.(author).

  5. Relations between Eastern Four Pillars Theory and Western Measures of Personality Traits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Seung Ah

    2015-01-01

    Purpose The present study investigated the validity of personality classification using four pillars theory, a tradition in China and northeastern Asia. Materials and Methods Four pillars analyses were performed for 148 adults on the basis of their birth year, month, day, and hour. Participants completed two personality tests, the Korean version of Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised-Short Version (TCI) and the Korean Inventory of Interpersonal Problems; scores were correlated with four pillars classification elements. Mean difference tests (e.g., t-test, ANOVA) were compared with groups classified by four pillars index. Results There were no significant correlations between personality scale scores and total yin/yang number (i.e., the 8 heavenly or earthly stems), and no significant between-groups results for classifications by yin/yang day stem and the five elements. There were significant but weak (r=0.18-0.29) correlations between the five elements and personality scale scores. For the six gods and personality scales, there were significant but weak (r=0.18-0.25) correlations. Features predicted by four pillars theory were most consistent when participants were grouped according to the yin/yang of the day stem and dominance of yin/yang numbers in the eight heavenly or earthly stems. Conclusion Although the major criteria of four pillars theory were not independently correlated with personality scale scores, correlations emerged when participants were grouped according to the composite yin/yang variable. Our results suggest the utility of four pillars theory (beyond fortune telling or astrology) for classifying personality traits and making behavioral predictions. PMID:25837175

  6. Creating cometary models using ancient Chinese data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeomans, D. K.

    For more than two millennia, Chinese court astronomers maintained a rather comprehensive record of cometary sightings. Owing to the significance of comets as portents for the reigning emperor, early sky watchers from China (as well as their counterparts from Korea and Japan) carefully noted each cometary apparition for the purpose of astrological predictions. The dates and corresponding celestial locations and motions were usually recorded and in some cases, the colors, coma sizes, and tail lengths were also noted. These ancient observations represent the only source of information available for modeling the long-term behavior of periodic comets. For comets Halley and Swift-Tuttle, Chinese records have been identified as far back as 240 B.C. and 69 B.C. respectively and these data have been used to define their long-term motions. As a result, heliocentric and geocentric distances for each Chinese sighting of these two comets can be computed and estimates can be made for each comet's intrinsic brightness at various observed returns. Although the earliest identified apparition of comet Tempel-Tuttle is A.D. 1366, the associated Leonid meteor showers were noted back to at least A.D. 902. The Leonid meteor stream is young in the sense that outstanding meteor displays occur only near the time of the parent comet's perihelion passages. The ancient Chinese records of the Leonid meteor showers and storms have been used to map the particle distribution around the parent comet and this information was used to guide predictions for the 1998-1999 Leonid meteor showers.

  7. Master John of Arderne (1307-1380): a founder of modern surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearn, John

    2012-01-01

    John of Arderne (1307-1380) was one founder of surgery as the profession is known today. He was the first English surgeon of whom biographic details survive. Born on the Arderne Estates at Newark, England, he served as a military surgeon in France in campaigns where gunpowder was used in combat for the first time. His best-known work, the Practica (De Arte Phisicali et de Cirurgia), formed the basis of practical surgical teaching in the medical schools of medieval Europe. Biographic research of primary and secondary archives and documents. John of Arderne's surgical practice was undertaken against a background of turbulent political, military and medical events. He survived the Black Death (1347) and its cyclical recurrences. He lived through the turbulent reigns of Edward II and Edward III and practised in London in the decades preceding the simmering unrest which preceded the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. Surgical and medical practice in the late Middle Ages was enmeshed in astrological beliefs. It was greatly influenced by church doctrine of disease causation. In this paper, the known details of John of Arderne's life are placed in the perspective of these societal and professional influences. He is one of several pre-Renaissance European doctors who were the first to challenge the received medical lore of Galen and later Arabic surgeons. Writing when he was 70 years of age, John of Arderne was the first to advocate that surgeons should trust their own clinical experience 'Wele ymagynyng subtile things' rather than following the directions of others, even including those advocated by himself. © 2011 The Author. ANZ Journal of Surgery © 2011 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

  8. Practical astronomy in Indo-Persian sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ansari, S. M. R.

    In the classical survey of zij literature (by E. Kennedy, 1956), out of 220 listed zijes only three zijes compiled in India are mentioned. They are: Zij-i Jami', ca 1461/62 (Kennedy serial No. X220); Zij-i Shahjahani, ca 1610 (X204); Zij-i Muhammad Shahi, ca 1730 (X203). However, since that classical survey, a number of Indian zijes have been found to be extant. They are: Zij-i Nasiri (ca 1260), Zij-i Nizami (ca 1780), Zij-i Hindi (1805), Zij-i 'Alami (ca 1808), Zij-i Ashki (1816), Zij-i Safdari (1819), Zij-i Sulayman Jahi (1830) and Zij-i Bahadur Khani (1838). It is well known that a zij comprises astronomical-mathematical and also astrological tables for use in practical or observational astronomy. From the standpoint of applied astronomy, it consists of particularly eclipse tables, visibility tables - for lunar crescent, apparitions and disappearances of planets - geographical and star tables. Evidently, this tabulated material can be used for the studies in applied astronomy. Besides zijes, we find also other classes of literature in which are treated the observations of comets, fireballs and meteorites. They are treatises on atmospheric phenomena (Athar-i 'Ulawi), chronicles and histories of Medieval India in Persian. For instance, we have histories by Abul Fadl and 'Arif Qandhari (16-17th c.), al-Husayni (18th c.), to name just a few. In this paper, we describe briefly the above-mentioned Indo-Persian sources, list the various celestial phenomena along with their short account as given in these sources, particularly in the Indian zijes. Finally, we make some remarks about their use in applied astronomy.

  9. A Flame of Nezami’s Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heidarali Dahmardeh

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available  Abstract Nezami’s Poem is in the front rank of poetry. He always attempted to choose the best words- fine words using beautiful words and expressions. His poetry is enriched by his power of imagination and awareness of the common knowledge and beliefs of the time. The common features of his speech includes a unique use of the words-word choice, creating new compounds, compounding- description, repetition, emphasis, transformation, omission, using Quranic verses, Islamic hadiths and Arabic compounds, expressions of astrology and medicine, adages, proverbs and idioms regularly used by ordinary people. He is a poet familiar with the language of ordinary people and their beliefs, customs and traditions. Since he rightfully attended to the spoken language and because of his particular style of speech, his works are full of street talks to the extent that this propery can be viewed as the prominent stylistic feature of his poems. He took advantage of the common sciences of the time and utilized the scientific, astrological and medical terms and also the technical meanings and themes of these sciences. His imagination and awareness of the sciences and beliefs made his poems productive. Some of the features of his poems are as follow:   1- Imagery : Imagery refers to producing pictures, paintings or shows in the mind of readers /listeners using words. That is, the poet or writer should have such mastery over using words, space, meanings and their relations that makes him able to effectively use the sentences and words to create paintings, pictures or shows in the mind of readers or listener, to enable the reader to imagine a real painting or picture when he is over with his reading.    2- Diction : Experts of language issues and grammar beliefs that word coining can strengthen the foundation of language. So, the first premise in creating fine text is to choose musical words appropriate for the given text and meaning. In the first step

  10. A Flame of Nezami’s Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heidarali Dahmardeh

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Nezami’s Poem is in the front rank of poetry. He always attempted to choose the best words- fine words using beautiful words and expressions. His poetry is enriched by his power of imagination and awareness of the common knowledge and beliefs of the time. The common features of his speech includes a unique use of the words-word choice, creating new compounds, compounding- description, repetition, emphasis, transformation, omission, using Quranic verses, Islamic hadiths and Arabic compounds, expressions of astrology and medicine, adages, proverbs and idioms regularly used by ordinary people. He is a poet familiar with the language of ordinary people and their beliefs, customs and traditions. Since he rightfully attended to the spoken language and because of his particular style of speech, his works are full of street talks to the extent that this propery can be viewed as the prominent stylistic feature of his poems. He took advantage of the common sciences of the time and utilized the scientific, astrological and medical terms and also the technical meanings and themes of these sciences. His imagination and awareness of the sciences and beliefs made his poems productive. Some of the features of his poems are as follow:   1- Imagery : Imagery refers to producing pictures, paintings or shows in the mind of readers /listeners using words. That is, the poet or writer should have such mastery over using words, space, meanings and their relations that makes him able to effectively use the sentences and words to create paintings, pictures or shows in the mind of readers or listener, to enable the reader to imagine a real painting or picture when he is over with his reading.    2- Diction : Experts of language issues and grammar beliefs that word coining can strengthen the foundation of language. So, the first premise in creating fine text is to choose musical words appropriate for the given text and meaning. In the first step, melodic

  11. The Cultural Epigenesis of Gender-Based Violence in Cambodia: Local and Buddhist Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenbruch, Maurice

    2018-06-01

    Almost one in four women in Cambodia is a victim of physical, emotional or sexual violence. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which Cambodians see its causes and effects and to identify and analyse the cultural forces that underpin and shape its landscape. An ethnographic study was carried out with 102 perpetrators and survivors of emotional, physical and sexual violence against women and 228 key informants from the Buddhist and healing sectors. Their views and experiences of it were recorded-the popular idioms expressed and the symptoms of distress experienced by survivors and perpetrators. From these results, the eight cultural forces, or cultural attractors, that are seen to propel a person to violence were identified. Violence stemmed from blighted endowment, or 'bad building' (sɑmnaaŋ mɨn lʔɑɑ) determined by deeds in a previous life (kam). Children with a vicious character (kmeeŋ kaac or doṣa-carita) might grow to be abusers, and particular birthmarks on boys were thought to be portents. Krʊəh, or mishap, especially when a female's horoscope predicted a zodiac house on the descent (riesəy), explained vulnerability to violence and its timing. Astrological incompatibility (kuu kam) was a risk factor. Lust, anger and ignorance, the 'Triple Poison', fuelled it. 'Entering the road to ruin' (apāyamuk), including alcohol abuse, womanising and gambling, triggered it. Confusion and loss of judgement (mohā) led to moral blindness (mo baŋ). These were the eight cultural attractors that shaped the landscape of violence against women. The cultural epigenesis of violence against women in Cambodia is an insight which can be used to build culturally responsive interventions and strengthen the primary prevention of violence against women. An understanding of the epigenesis of violence could strengthen the primary prevention of violence against women.

  12. SEKOLAH TINGGI ASTRONOMI DI KOTA PARE-PARE TEMA ARSITEKTUR METAFORA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahibuddin Juddah

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstrak— Kota Pare-Pare sebagai kota yang layak memiliki suatu fasilitas ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi yang diperuntukkan bagi generasi-generasi muda penerus bangsa di kota Pare-Pare dalam hal ini fasilitas ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi yang berkaitan dengan astronomi yakni Sekolah Tinggi Astronomi (Ilmu Perbintangan di Kota Pare-pare dengan tema Arsitektur Metafora. Pada bidang astronomi terdapat berbagai macam bentuk-bentuk fantastis yang dapat dijadikan lambang bentuk dalam arsitektur seperti bentuk rasi bintang, bentuk lintasan orbit planet dan bentuk-bentuk benda langit lainnya, begitu juga dengan bentuk-bentuk fenomena yang dihasilkannya. Dengan perwujudan bentuk-bentuk ini sebagai simbol pada gaya bangunan, baik bentuk bangunan, fungsi maupun penataan ruang di dalamnya, diharapkan pelaku kegiatan dalam bangunan merasakan maksud dan ekspresi dari bangunan. Kata Kunci : Sekolah Tinggi, Astronomi, Arsitektur Metafora Abstract—Pare- Pare as a city that deserves to have a facility of science and technology that is intended for younger generations in Pare - Pare in this case the facilities of science and technology relates to astronomy namely the College of Astronomy (Science Astrology in Pare- pare the theme of Architecture Metaphor. In the field of astronomy there are various kinds of fantastic shapes that can be used as the epitome of form in architecture such as the shape of constellations, planets orbit trajectory shapes and forms of other celestial bodies, as well as the forms of the phenomenon produces. The realization of these forms as a symbol on the style of the building, both buildings form, function and arrangement of space in it, it is hoped the perpetrators of activity in the building feel the intention and expression of the building Key word : High School, Astronomy, Metaphor Architecture

  13. Equivocal quintessence. Spiritual Alchemy and counterfeit money in 16th-century Spain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tausiet, María

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available One of the main obsessions of the Early Modern Era was that of determining the notions of true and false, in order to apply them to various fields of knowledge and thus establish the divide between the lawful and the unlawful. This trend was to have a particular impact on the fields of re ligion and science, where it became necessary to distinguish not only between true and false spirits, relics or miracles, but also between genuine and fake astrologers and alchemists. Situated in the middle ground between idealism and materialism, alchemy was prime territory for such tensions, as was demonstrated by a trial held in 1593 at the Jeronymite monastery of Santa Engracia in Saragossa, whose prior accused a friar of making «silver out of smoke and jewels from goblins».

    Una de las principales obsesiones de la Edad Moderna consistió en determinar las nociones de verdadero y falso para aplicarlas a los distintos campos del saber y, de ese modo, fundamentar la separación entre lo lícito y lo prohibido. Dicha tendencia iba a afectar especialmente a los terrenos de la religión y la ciencia, haciéndose necesario distinguir no sólo verdaderos y falsos espíritus, reliquias o milagros, sino también verdaderos y falsos astrólogos y alquimistas. Situada a caballo entre el idealismo y el materialismo, la alquimia ejemplificaba especialmente dichas tensiones, como se comprobará a través del proceso incoado en 1593 contra un fraile del monasterio jerónimo de Santa Engracia de Zaragoza, a quien su prior acusó de fabricar «plata de humo y joyas de trasgos».

  14. La creación del mundo supralunar según Abraham Ibn Ezra: un estudio comparativo de sus dos comentarios a Génesis 1,14

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sela, Shlomo

    2003-06-01

    Full Text Available This article aims at elucidating Abraham Ibn Ezra's (ca. 1089 - ca. 1167 opinion about the creation of the supra-lunar world. A major and striking feature of Ibn Ezra's approach is that he did not find it convenient to address this issue, intimately related to the nature of the celestial bodies, in his astronomical or astrological treatises, but rather in his biblical commentaries. Therefore, we propose to concentrate our efforts on the meticulous study of the two commentaries which Ibn Ezra wrote on Genesis 1,14. As this verse focuses on the account of the creation of the heavenly bodies, we have assumed that the elusive Ibn Ezra could not have avoided revealing his view, or, at least, that we should have left some significant hints from which we may uncover his genuine opinion about the creation of the supra-lunar world.

    El propósito de este artículo es averiguar la opinión de Abraham Ibn Ezra (ca. 1089 - ca. 1167 sobre lo relacionado con la creación del mundo supralunar. Una característica fundamental dei modus operandi de Ibn Ezra es que, si buscamos información acerca de su opinión sobre la creación del mundo, tanto sublunar como supralunar, no la hallaremos en sus tratados científicos astronómicos o astrológicos, sino precisamente en sus comentarios bíblicos. Por lo tanto, la metodología más adecuada consistirá en concentrar nuestros esfuerzos en el estudio meticuloso de sus dos comentarios a Génesis 1,14. Dado que este verso bíblico tiene como objetivo principal el relato y la descripción de la creación de las luminarias, pensamos que en ambos comentarios Ibn Ezra no pudo haber eludido dar su verdadera opinión -o al menos dejar alguna pista significativa- sobre la creación del mundo supralunar.

  15. Oassi sámi noaidevuođa birra Kaspar Peucera čállosis Commentarius de praecipuis divinationum generibus (Wittenberg 1560: Teakstakritihkalaš hámis jorgalusain ja kommentáraiguin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Per Pippin Aspaas

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The text on Sami shamanism in Caspar Peucer’s Commentarius de praecipuis divinationum generibus (Wittenberg 1560: Critical edition, with translation and commentary. Among the sources dealing with the shamanistic skills of the Sami (formerly Lapponian population, a certain text by Kaspar Peucer has so far been little known. This man of extreme learning was the son-in-law of Philip Melanchthon and a Professor at the University of Wittenberg. A true polyhistor, well versed in Medicine, Geography, Astrology, Theology, etc., Peucer included in his chef-d’oeuvre on divination an elaborate description of the shamanism of the so-called Pilappii. The present article offers a critical edition of this text, based on the editions of Wittenberg 1560 (A, 1572 (B, 1580 (C, as well as Zerbst 1591 (D and Frankfurt 1593 (E. In addition to translations into North Sami and Norwegian (see Appendix, some contextualisation is offered, which can be summarised as follows: A similar testimony on shamanism is found in the Historia de gentibus Septentrionalibus by Olaus Magnus (Rome 1555. However, that text is not elaborate enough to prove that Kaspar Peucer has copied his description from him. It is more likely that some student among the considerable number of Swedes, Finns and Norwegians that were immatriculated at Wittenberg University in the years following the Reformation, presented this account to Peucer. Many details in the account make it strikingly similar to Sami folk narratives that have been assembled several centuries later. For example, the description of maritime Sami by Anders Larsen (1870–1949, the Sami book by Johan Turi (published 1910 and Sami songs (joik that were collected by Jacob Fellman in the 1820’s can be compared with Peucer’s account. Peucer himself, however, categorised the shamanism of the Sami as a form of theomanteia, i.e. a form of magic which he considered to originate not from the true God, but from the Devil.

  16. Ransom, Religion, and Red Giants: C.S. Lewis and Fred Hoyle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Kristine

    2010-01-01

    Famed fantasy writer C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was known to friends as a well-read astronomy aficionado. However, this medieval scholar and Christian apologist embraced a pre-Copernican universe (with its astrological overtones) in his Chronicles of Narnia series and defended the beauty and relevance of the geocentric model in his final academic work, "The Discarded Image". In the "Ransom Trilogy” ("Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength") philologist Ransom (loosely based on Lewis's close friend J.R.R. Tolkien) travels to Lewis's visions of Mars and Venus, where he interacts with intelligent extraterrestrials, battles with evil scientists, and aids in the continuation of extraterrestrial Christian values. In the final book, Ransom is joined by a handful of colleagues in open warfare against the satanic N.I.C.E. (National Institute for Coordinated Experiments). Geneticist and evolutionary biologist J.B.S. Haldane criticized Lewis for his scientifically inaccurate descriptions of the planets, and his disdain for the scientific establishment. Lewis responded to the criticism in essays of his own. Another of Lewis's favorite scientific targets was atheist Fred Hoyle, whom he openly criticized for anti-Christian statements in Hoyle's BBC radio series. Writer and Lewis friend Dorothy L. Sayers voiced her own criticism of Hoyle. In a letter, Lewis dismissed Hoyle as "not a great philosopher (and none of my scientific colleagues think much of him as a scientist.” Given Lewis's lack of respect for Hoyle, and use of creative license in describing the planets, and the flat-earth, "geocentric” Narnia, it is surprising that Lewis very carefully includes an astronomically correct description of red giants in two novels in the Narnia series ("The Magician's Nephew" and "The Last Battle"). This inclusion is even more curious given that Fred Hoyle is well-known as one of the pioneers in the field of stellar death and the properties of red giants.

  17. Al-Isyârât al-Kauniyyah fi al-Hurûf al-Muqatha’ah Awâili al-Suwar ‘Inda Thanthawi Jauhari

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    Ilham Habibullah

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Muslim scholars have different views about the meaning and interpretation of the letters of Muqatha'ah in the Qur'an. This issue also received special attention from the orientalists, as they saw that the letters of Muqatha'ah belonged to the deficiency of the Qur'an. According to Thanthawi Jauhari the different views among Muslim scholars includes three points: first, the letters need not be interpreted because the real meaning of Muqotha’ah is only Allah knows (Mutasyâbihât; second, the letters have related meaning to Asma Allah SWT or related to the names of surah in al- Qur'an; third, the letters are codes containing messages to read the Greatness of Allah SWT in this universe. That is the reason why according to Thanthawi "alif lâm mîm" has a close correlation with "alam taro", that alif lâm and mîm lead to verses that read "alam" which are both derived from the lâm and mîm alif letters. This paper discusses about the third point, which is exploring the meanings of the letters of Muqhata'ah that related to this universe according to Thanthawi Jauhari. Namely all the verses that discuss about alam (nature, such as geography and astrology referring to "alif lâm mîm". Thanthawi tries to bring his interpretation to the current reality, that the letters of muqhata'ah are symbols of all modern science, such as psychology, military, organization and political science. But of course Thanthawi is very observant and careful in relating the verse that according to the Muslim scholars are included in the mutasyâbihât discussion, so Thantawi always tries to provide clear evidence. But Thanthawi insists that the verses in the Qur'an have a very dominant scientific message or Isyârât.

  18. Theodorus Graminaeus. Een wiskundige in dienst van de contrareformatie

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    Rienk Vermij

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Theodorus Graminaeus, a mathematician in the service of the Counter-Reformation Theodorus Graminaeus (ca. 1540-1596 offers an example of the fluid status of mathematics and its practitioners in the early modern period. Born at Roermond, Graminaeus studied at Cologne, where he became a professor of mathematics in 1566. As a professor, Graminaeus also acted as printer and publisher of mathematical, religious and other works. In 1575 he obtained a licentiate in law. Around the same time, he became tutor of Johann Wilhelm, crown prince to the United Duchies of Jülich, Cleves and Berg. In 1582, he left his position at the university of Cologne and appears to have entered the service of Johann Wilhelm full time. After the latter’s succession as duke (1592, Graminaeus got an administrative position in the duchy of Berg. Graminaeus wrote a dozen works on a variety of subjects, including the calendar, comets, the Antichrist, witches, and publicity for the dukes of Cleves. He did not aim at exactness and objectivity. Even his mathematical works bear the stamp of his religious beliefs and embody religious and political values. Tycho Brahe (who refuted Graminaeus’s work on the nova of 1572 at some length already felt that they lacked rigour. Graminaeus felt he lived in a very dark age. He had witnessed the religious troubles at his birthplace, Roermond, in 1566-1567 and since that time abhorred Protestantism. In his work, he tried to read the signs of the time by finding patterns in world history based on astrological models and ancient prophecies. (In this, he appears not to have been unique among Catholics at Cologne. At the court of Cleves, he put himself decidedly on the side of the Roman-Catholic faction. As the Counter- Reformation, led by the Jesuits, gained momentum in the United Duchies, his expectations became somewhat less gloomy.

  19. Ar galime priskirti pretekstą Oktaviją Senekai? Can we attribute the Praetexta Octavia to Seneca?

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    Jovita Dikmonienė

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The article explores the problems of the authorship of the Roman tragedy Octavia. The aim of the article is to introduce and analyse research carried out by scientists on the problems of the authorship of Octavia and to answer to the question on whether this praetexta could have been written by Seneca.For literary critics the greatest doubt about the authorship of Seneca’s Octavia raises the shadow of Agrippina, Nero’s dead mother, who correctly foretells the death of Nero – the emperor will become a victim of revenge and be killed by being stabbed in the neck. The doubt stems from the fact that Seneca had died three years before Nero. However, the future revenge is defined using typical words (iugulum dare – jab to the throat, which are used by Seneca in his other tragedies to describe non-heroic death, such as in Agamemnon (43, Oedipus (1036–1037, Thyestes (721–723, etc. So iugulum dare can be treated as locus communis in Seneca’s tragedies, meaning revenge, violent death. On the other hand, according to historians (Tacitus, Dio Cassius, Seneca was aware of the planned assassination of Nero in 65 CE by Piso’s conspirators. At the beginning of a conspiracy, conspirators would gather to talk about Nero’s crimes and Seneca maintained close relationships with many of them. Therefore, Seneca could have written Octavia at the beginning of 65 CE and read it at the gathering of Piso’s circle, where everyone spoke of Nero’s crimes supporting the need for a conspiracy.Nero’s dethronement was also predicted by astrologers. Rolando Ferri doubts whether astrologers could have predicted to the Princeps that he would become a criminal (animam nocentem sceleribus (Octavia, 630 and fugitive (turpem fugam (Octavia, 620. It is these two lines of Octavia, according to Ferri, that do not allow attributing Octavia to Seneca. The author of the article argues Ferri’s claims. If Seneca wrote the praetexta in the spring of 65 CE when Piso

  20. Healing Gods, Heroes and Rituals in the Graeco-Roman World

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panayotis Pachis

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This editorial introduces the articles published within the OLH Special Collection, ‘Healing Gods, Heroes and Rituals in the Graeco-Roman World’. The first two articles in this collection interrogate the figures of specific healing gods. Olympia Panagiotidou’s article ‘Asclepius’ Myths and Healing Narratives: Counter-Intuitive Concepts and Cultural Expectations’ focuses on the curative features that defined the image of Asclepius, the most famous of the healing gods. The next article in the collection, ‘The Fate of a Healing Goddess: Ocular Pathologies, the Antonine Plague, and the Ancient Roman Cult of Bona Dea’ by Leonardo Ambasciano, interrogates the religious figure of another healing agent: the Italian goddess Bona Dea who was particularly venerated in Rome and in the region of Latium and whose cult reveals the way in which ancient Roman androcentric control over women was institutionalised through religious figures.  The third article in the collection, Audrey Ferlut’s ‘Goddesses as Consorts of the Healing Gods in 'Gallia Belgica' and the 'Germaniae': Forms of Cult and Ritual Practices’ considers the impact that cults dedicated to gods and goddesses had on populations in the wider area of the Roman Empire, focusing on the Northern provinces of the Western Roman Empire ('Gallia Belgica' and the 'Germaniae'. The collection’s final article, ‘From Textual Reception to Textual Codification: Thessalos and the Quest for Authenticity’ by Spyros Piperakis, moves the discussion from the question of cult practices to ‘alternative’ healing therapies in antiquity. Piperakis deals with astrological medicine, one of many alternative therapeutic methods that became popular during the Hellenistic and Roman period.  Taken together, the articles in ‘Healing Gods, Heroes and Rituals in the Graeco-Roman World’ demonstrate that we need to approach the study of ancient myths and cults within their socio-cultural context

  1. Cetacean beachings correlate with geomagnetic disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere: an example of how astronomical changes impact the future of life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrari, Thomas E.

    2017-04-01

    The beaching and stranding of whales and dolphins around the world has been mystifying scientists for centuries. Although many theories have been proposed, few are substantiated by unequivocal statistical evidence. Advances in the field of animal magnetoreception have established that many organisms, including cetaceans, have an internal `compass,' which they use for orientation when traveling long distances. Astrobiology involves not only the origin and distribution of life in the universe, but also the scientific study of how extraterrestrial conditions affect evolution of life on planet Earth. The focus of this study is how cetacean life is influenced by disturbances in its environment that originate from an astrological phenomenon - in the present study that involves solar flares and cetacean beachings. Solar storms are caused by major coronal eruptions on the Sun. Upon reaching Earth, they cause disturbances in Earth's normally stable magnetosphere. Unable to follow an accurate magnetic bearing under such circumstances, cetaceans lose their compass reading while travelling and, depending on their juxtaposition and nearness to land, eventually beach themselves. (1) This hypothesis was supported by six separate, independent surveys of beachings: (A) in the Mediterranean Sea, (B) the northern Gulf of Mexico, (C) the east and (D) west coasts of the USA and two surveys (E and F) from around the world. When the six surveys were pooled (1614 strandings), a highly significant correlation (R 2 = 0.981) of when strandings occurred with when major geomagnetic disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere occurred was consistent with this hypothesis. (2) Whale and dolphin strandings in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the USA were correlated (R 2 = 0.919, R 2 = 0.924) with the number of days before and after a geomagnetic storm. (3) Yearly strandings were correlated with annual geomagnetic storm days. (4) Annual beachings of cetaceans from 1998 to 2012 were

  2. Territoriale Amtskalender und Amtshandbücher im Alten Reich

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volker Bauer

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available From the end of the 17th century onwards, a new type of periodical emerged in no fewer than 74 territories of the Old Empire, most of them in the form of court and state almanacs, gazettes or manuals. They took on their specific characteristic as a distinctive text through the inclusion of a directory of authorities listing the court, state and military officials of the respective territory. Such lists make this particular type of text an invaluable source of information for administrative history, in particular. Moreover, these texts constitute a distinct genre that lends itself to historical research in its own right as a record of the development of trends in cultural and media history throughout the 18th century. Given that the entire life and business cycle of each series of official lists was dependent upon the respective territorial ruling class, the relevant publications came to be regarded to all intents and purposes as the official organ of government. Since they portrayed the way the ruling classes saw themselves and wished to be seen by others, they also served the purpose of political representation. Admittedly, during the second half of the century, over and above the deliberate and intentional courtly-ceremonial function of these texts, a subversive statistical usage emerged involving a quantitative analysis of the official lists that employed the available data as a critique of the royal courts and principalities. In this way, a medium that had originally served the needs of courtly society became an instrument of the emerging bourgeois public. What is more, from the 1760s onwards, an increasing number of popular almanacs were transformed into official gazettes by the addition of official lists. At the same time, the astrological sections of practice and prognosis were increasingly replaced by scholarly contributions, so that the genre also acted as an essential vehicle for the edification of the populace, ousting the traditional

  3. India's mission to Mars cost less than the movie Gravity: Multidimensional View in Engineering Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rani, Meenu; Kumar, Pawan; Vandana, Vandana

    2016-07-01

    Over the years, Mars has been the centre of attraction for science fiction writers, Hollywood movie makers, astrologers, astronomers and the scientific community. For scientists and technologists, Mars continues to be an enigma. This is essentially because even tough humans have dreamt for long about human colonisation of Mars. Indian space programme had a very humble beginning during the early 1960s. India launched its first satellite in 1975 with assistance from the erstwhile USSR. India achieved the status of space-faring nation2 by 1980, and by the end of 2014 has launched around 75 satellites. India has become the first nation to reach Mars on its maiden attempt after its Mars Orbiter Mission completed its 10-month journey and successfully entered the Red Planet's orbit. The Mars Orbiter Mission, a low-cost 74 million project, blasted off from Earth on November 5, 2013, aboard an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. At its initial stage, the rocket booster placed the probe into Earth's orbit before the craft fired the engines to break free of Earth's gravity en route to Mars. This is India's first mission into such deep space to search for evidence of life on the Red Planet. But the mission's primary objective is technological-if successful, the country will be joining an elite club of nations: the United States, Russia and Europe. India is becoming known for low-cost innovation in diverse fields such as healthcare and education. The technological capability being demonstrated and the knowledge gained from the operations of the mission will be invaluable in future developments and also in the training of the flight operations and mission control staff. All of this capability can be carried forward to future launches and operations. The sustained presence of methane observed by previous missions suggests that an active production mechanism is at work, most likely tectonic in nature, although there are some suggestions that it may point to a biological origin

  4. 从《开元占经》看《三国演义》的星相占验%Understanding Astrology in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms with Theories from Kai Yuan Zhan Jing

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    张涛

    2015-01-01

    成书于公元8世纪左右的《开元占经》集天文学与占星术于一体,将“究天人之际,通古今之变”的三材之道与占卜结合起来,可谓是最具东方特色的古代天文学专著.以《开元占经》作为《三国演义》中有关观天预卜、禳星求福、星象变异、九州分野、灾异福瑞等现象的解读根据,分析其中星宿变化所对应的朝代更替、将相生死、人事变迁、行军布阵,可以帮助现代读者站在古代天文星象学角度更为全面地了解这部内蕴深厚、思想宏博的文学巨著.

  5. Problems of the Modern Romanian Astronomy: TELEROM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grigore, Valentin; Minti, Harry; Vaduvescu, Ovidiu

    2011-06-01

    Cercetare") the TELEROM project was finally rejected and its funding was lost, after 10 months of discussions and granted funding! Other problems, such as the proliferation of the astrology between Romanian professional astronomers, a reduced weight of physicists between Romanian professional astronomers in comparison with mathematicians, as well as very reduced issue from the professional Romanian astronomers in international journals in the last years and the intellectual theft of publications have been also discussed in this 4 TV series presented by the weekly astronomy show "We and the Sky" of Columna TV (in Romanian).

  6. Ideas. A History: From Fire to Freud. 2. ed.; Ideen. Eine Kulturgeschichte von der Entdeckung des Feuers bis zur Moderne

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watson, P.

    2005-07-01

    In this hugely ambitious and exciting book Peter Watson tells the history of ideas from prehistory to the present day, seeking a new way to tell the history of the world. The book begins over a million years ago with a discussion of how the earliest ideas might have originated. Looking at animal behaviour that appears to require some thought tool-making, territoriality, counting, language (or at least sounds), pairbonding Peter Watson moves on to the apeman and the development of simple ideas such as cooking, the earliest language, the emergence of family life. All the obvious areas will be tackled the Ancient Greeks, Christian theology, the ideas of Jesus, astrological thought, the soul, the self, beliefs about the heavens, the ideas of Islam, the Crusades, humanism, the Renaissance, Gutenberg and the book, the scientific revolution, the age of discovery, Shakespeare, the idea of Revolution, the Romantic imagination, Darwin, imperialism, modernism, Freud right up to the present day and the internet. (orig./GL) [German] Beginnt die Ideengeschichte der Menschheit, als die Fruehmenschen erstmals Feuer machen, vor ca. 1,8 Millionen Jahren? Oder schon mit dem ersten Faustkeil vor etwa 2,5 Millionen Jahren? Warum entwickelte sich vor 40 000 Jahren eine komplexe Sprache? Wie kamen das Minus- und das Plus-Zeichen in die Vorstellungswelt, und wie entstand das Bild vom Paradies? Peter Watson laedt ein zu einer Expedition durch die abenteuerliche Welt menschlicher Ideen. Vom ersten Feuer, dem ersten Werkzeug und den ersten Worten ueber die Geburt der Goetter, die ersten Gesetze und die Entwicklung grosser Zentren von Wissen und Weisheit bis hin zu den umwaelzenden Ideen der Moderne: das Groesste und das Kleinste, das Selbst-Bewusstsein des Individuums und die Entdeckung des Unbewussten. Dabei ordnet Watson die riesige Materialfuelle nach drei zentralen Ideen, die fuer ihn die Geschichte der Menschheit praegen: die Seele, mehr als die Idee von einem Gott, Europa, mehr als das

  7. Osmanlı’da Zaman-Mekân Kavrayışının Değişimi; Edebi Metinler Üzerinden Bir İrdeleme Change In The Ottoman Space-Time Conception; An Inquiry Through Ottoman Literary Texts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Işıl UÇMAN ALTINIŞIK

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This study entitled “Change in Ottoman Space-Time Conception:An Inquiry Through Ottoman Literary Texts”, proposes a noveldiscussion on the transformation of Ottoman practices from pre-modernto modern times with the use of recently discovered archival and literarytexts which has been neglected so far in the techno-cultural and socioculturalresearches. In that sense, “change in the Ottoman space-timeconception” is one of the pivotal parameters in order to scrutinize thetransformation of everyday life practices in respect to the changingcontextual phenomena of the pre-modern and the modern, and thispaper attempts to go beyond the prevalent approach of consideringindustrial revolution as the pre-requisite of discussing the socialtransformations brought by modernity. One of the main objectives ofthis study is to examine and visualize the technological, social andcultural processes experienced in the daily life practices that arespecific to the Ottoman realm in relation to the space-time conception.Based on this conceptual framework, the first part named “Müneccims,Muvakkits and the Auspicious Moments: Ottoman Space-TimeConception Before 19th Century” intends to expose the „pre-modernOttoman system‟ in relation to temporal space-time conception rootedin cosmology and nature. Accordingly, the second part under the title“New Space-Time Conception and Modernity in Ottoman Realm” aims toscrutinize the Ottoman experience of modernity in tune with the erosionof cosmological units derived from empirical observation.In this sense „cosmology, astrology (ilm-i nücum, astronomy (ilm-iheyet‟, „müneccimbaşılık ve müneccimler (chief astrologer and theastrologers, „müneccimbaşı takvimleri (chief astrologer calendars‟,„zayiçe (horoscope ve eşref saat (auspicious moment‟ and „muvakkitler,muvakkithaneler‟ are phenomena to be studied. As they display theoperations of the Ottoman psycho-social structure, these

  8. Concepts of Simultaneity From Antiquity to Einstein and beyond

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muller, F A [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for the History and Foundations of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht University P.O Box 80125, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2007-10-05

    Concepts of Simultaneity (henceforth: Simultaneity) is Jammer's historical monograph dedicated to the development of a single concept in physics. Jammer's idea to write a history of concepts of simultaneity proves to be a wonderful idea: it makes Simultaneity literally unique in its kind and it provides a new perspective from which to look at the historical development of concepts of time, about which much has already been written. Anyone who believes that Einstein was the first person on planet Earth to reflect on how to establish whether two distant events have occurred at the same time, i.e. simultaneously, will stop believing this after having read chapters 2 and 3 of Simultaneity (chapter 1 consists of terminological preliminaries), which deal with Antiquity and the Middle Ages, respectively. For example, Augustine of Hippo anticipated, in his Confessions (397 C.E.), nothing less than the method to determine the simultaneity of distant events that we associate with Einstein. Augustine set out to criticise the heresy of astrology. He considered two infants being born simultaneously in distant places. According to the doctrines of astrology they should lead very similar lives, because they are born under the same constellation of the stars. Yet one infant, Augustine imagined, is the child of a poor maid servant whereas the other is the child of a rich lady, so that they would almost certainly lead very different lives. How to know whether the infants are born simultaneously? Augustine proposed to dispatch, at the moment of birth, two messengers who run equally fast from the houses were the babies were born (whether they do run equally fast can be ascertained by using only local simultaneity judgments); the messengers should run towards each other in order to see whether they meet 'at equal distance from either house' (p. 49). If so, the infants were born simultaneously. Of course, this will not be very accurate, but that is not the point. The

  9. Concepts of Simultaneity From Antiquity to Einstein and beyond

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muller, F A

    2007-01-01

    Concepts of Simultaneity (henceforth: Simultaneity) is Jammer's historical monograph dedicated to the development of a single concept in physics. Jammer's idea to write a history of concepts of simultaneity proves to be a wonderful idea: it makes Simultaneity literally unique in its kind and it provides a new perspective from which to look at the historical development of concepts of time, about which much has already been written. Anyone who believes that Einstein was the first person on planet Earth to reflect on how to establish whether two distant events have occurred at the same time, i.e. simultaneously, will stop believing this after having read chapters 2 and 3 of Simultaneity (chapter 1 consists of terminological preliminaries), which deal with Antiquity and the Middle Ages, respectively. For example, Augustine of Hippo anticipated, in his Confessions (397 C.E.), nothing less than the method to determine the simultaneity of distant events that we associate with Einstein. Augustine set out to criticise the heresy of astrology. He considered two infants being born simultaneously in distant places. According to the doctrines of astrology they should lead very similar lives, because they are born under the same constellation of the stars. Yet one infant, Augustine imagined, is the child of a poor maid servant whereas the other is the child of a rich lady, so that they would almost certainly lead very different lives. How to know whether the infants are born simultaneously? Augustine proposed to dispatch, at the moment of birth, two messengers who run equally fast from the houses were the babies were born (whether they do run equally fast can be ascertained by using only local simultaneity judgments); the messengers should run towards each other in order to see whether they meet 'at equal distance from either house' (p. 49). If so, the infants were born simultaneously. Of course, this will not be very accurate, but that is not the point. The point is that when

  10. BOOK REVIEW: Tycho Brahe and Prague: Crossroads of European Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterken, C.; Christianson, J. R.; Hadravová, A.; Hadrava, P.; Solc, M.

    2003-01-01

    The 16th volume of the Acta Historica Astronomiae is the Proceedings of the International Symposium on the History of Science in the Rudolphine Period. The meeting was held in Prague from 22 to 25 October 2001, on the 400th anniversary of Tycho's sudden death, and was attended by approximately 65 scientists and historians. The volume contains 36 contributions dealing with the life and work of Tycho Brahe, the astronomy of the era, and many cultural aspects of Rudolphine Prague. One of the first papers is an eye-opener on the fact that Tycho Brahe was a cosmologically-driven observer. This is followed by a very illuminating paper on gender roles in science in the late 16th century, with emphasis on the role of Sophie Brahe, Tycho's youngest sister. Several subsequent papers reveal the existence of barely known links between Tycho and his contemporaneous colleagues. These extremely-well documented papers also deal with the broader philosophical investigation he was involved in, viz. meteorology, medicine, astrology, alchemy and even theology. Important names of Tycho's days are Petrus Severinus, Johannes Pratensis, Theophrastus Paracelsus, John Craig, Ursus (Nicolai Reymers Baer) etc. Very illuminating is the information on the relations between Tycho and the Jesuits in Prague, explaining the reason why this order was very supportive of the Tychonic cosmological model. The relationsship with Kepler, and also Kepler's observational activities (after Tycho's death) are highlighted as well as the hideous mode of communication between Galileo and Kepler. More than one paper deals with the accuracy and precision of Tycho's observations, and the causal impact of this accuracy on the scientific revolution. Another study discusses the study of Tycho's handwriting, this paper brings the aditional bonus of a list of accessible works which contain notes by him. One very interesting project was Brahe's proposal to the Republic of Venice to determine the exact latitudes of

  11. Ancient cults of the sun (German Title: Antike Sonnenkulte)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Rahlf

    In ancient astronomy, the heliocentric system of Aristarchus of Samos did not meet universal approval. Contrary to that, the cult of the sun gained immense importance in the Roman Empire. Relics of this significance we still find e.g. in the meaning of the Sunday in the week and in the date of Christmas. The rise of the sun cults is characterised by the merging of different gods from various cultures. Already in classical Greece the god of the sun, Helios, almagated with the god of light, Apollo. The resulting entity was regarded as the harmonic guide of the visible universe, symbolized by Apoll. As well as he plays the lyre, he conducts the cosmos harmonically as the sun. Plato recommends to politicians to study musical harmonics and astronomy in order to get a feeling of the right way to rule the state. In consequence to the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Babylonian star religion was mingled with Greek cosmology and the concept of transmigration of souls. The astrology resulting therefrom spread out over the whole Hellenistic world and was very common in the Roman Empire. The calendar with its religious division of time as the days of the week, following the principle of the gods of the planets governing the hour, was well known. The god of the sun was graded up by the adoption of the calendar of the sun from Egypt by Caesar. Augustus chose Apoll as his guardian god and built with “his” sundial a symbol of the god of the sun, which was visible from a long distance. Augustus used more astral symbols as propaganda of leadership. During the competition with the Parthians, another large empire, for world domination the focus fell on an Iranian god: the Iranian god of light and contract - Mithras. Shortly before 100 A.D., a new cult of mysteries arose in the Roman Empire, called cult of Mithras, and spread quickly. It combined the attributes of a classical sun-god with a religion of salvation, guaranteed by baptism, communion and seven degrees to be passed

  12. The religious and social principles of patients' rights in holy books (Avesta, Torah, Bible, and Quran) and in traditional medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatami, Hossein; Hatami, Maryam; Hatami, Neda

    2013-03-01

    Health protection and promotion in healthy people and restoring patients' health have been the most important themes in medicine and health throughout our history. Therefore, discussion of different aspects of patients' rights includes implementation of these objectives by the medical community, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, etc., and the people in charge of health affairs. The principal objective of our research is the study of medical ideology and the approaches of our ancestors in relation to different aspects of patients' rights. To study the different ideologies of traditional medicine in relation to patients' rights, appropriate data were extracted from the original resources of traditional medicine and from religious books. By means of library research we studied these resources in addition to electronic versions of the Alhavi book (by Rhazes), the Kamel-al-Sanaah (by Ahvazi), the Canon of Medicine (by Avicenna), the Zakhireye Khawrazmshahi (by Jorjani), the Avesta, the Torah, the Bible, the Quran, and many other resources, and, finally, after searching, gathering, and encoding the findings, analyzed them qualitatively for thematic content. The holy Avesta book clearly insists on the competence of physicians and setting the appointment fee in accordance with peoples' income. The Old Testament (holy Torah) warned government officials who did not observe patients' rights. In the four gospels (holy Bible) the importance of treatment and taking care of the patient is stressed. After the emergence of Islam, medical students, before beginning the principal courses, had to study Islamic jurisprudence, ethics, logic sciences, natural sciences, geometry, astrology, calculus, and similar courses so that after purifying their soul they could enter the saintly profession of physicians. The holy Quran refers to saving the life of a human irrespective of social class, race, and religion, and insists on exemption of patients from physical activity, including

  13. Perrault's experiments, a matter of soil hydrology and epistemology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barontini, Stefano; Berta, Andrea; Settura, Matteo

    2017-04-01

    to misinterpretate the experiments by a physical point of view. As his interpretation of the experiments did not corroborate the hypothesis that precipitation might be at the origin of all the springs, it accepted one of the forms of the traditional scheme of water circulation. According to it, greatly productive springs should be sustained by evaporation and condensation processes taking place below the soil surface. Even if Perrault's conclusions went in the direction of the ancient opinion, not only De l'origine des fontaines is a seminal work of experimental hydrology, but also it can be regarded to as a milestone of scientific revolution. In his critique of both ancient (e.g. Aristotle) and modern scholars (e.g. Nicolas Papin) he makes use of principles drawn by the works of Bacon, Galilei and Pascal. Stating that "the first and most usual maxim of our moderns is to doubt everything", he shows deep awareness of the specific essence of scientific modernity. Moreover his rejection of alchemy, analogical reasoning and astrological influences arises from the conviction that "it is to experiments that we owe the finest knowledge we now have concerning the things of nature". According to this perspective, despite of all the difficulties of the soil-hydrologic laboratory practice, Perrault was nevertheless able to report his experiments in terms that we can properly reproduce nowadays.

  14. Signing off

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-07-01

    Widget Jones's Highgate science week diary Saturday 17 March Alcohol units 20 (but all went up in flames—what a waste!), smoke—lots (but none from cigarettes!) (g. though possible concern about passive inhaling) Who needs a hangover when you've got crazy Highgate School chemist 'Zbig' Szydlo launching Science Week with exploding potato crisp cartons! Looks like that liquid nitrogen stuff might be good for chilling the Chardonnay though. Memo to self: buy earplugs next year and go with Shazzer so don't suffer embarrassment of grabbing hold of complete stranger during scary bits! Must take sunglasses too for big flash at the end—must admit Hydro Gin is a brand I've not come across, but sounds v.g. Monday 19 March Alcohol units 2 (fizzy wine at opening ceremony for refurbished Physics Department!), smoke—lots again (but all from Trevor's pipe!) Big coup as Trevor Baylis turned up to speak about inventing the clockwork radio. Not sure I'd have strength or coordination to wind one up before breakfast—would need to find environmentally aware boyfriend with healthy liver and strong wrist. We all proved weakest links when it came to the 'name a woman inventor' quiz—Trev was so right when he said that men don't realize that girls with great legs can have good ideas as well! But then went on to say that even the blokes often end up penniless and destined —like me the way things are going—to be discovered half eaten by Alsatians a couple of weeks after snuffing it in a lonely bedsit. Thursday 22 MarchAlcohol units 0 (but the first event was at 9 o'clock in the morning!), smoke—none (couldn't persuade any of the pupils to give me one!), endangered species saved: 1 (v.v.g. indeed) Lured by promise of 'live astrology in the classroom' I staggered out of bed at an ungodly hour hoping to find that my Venus was ascendant and Mark Darcy and I would be aligned soon. Initially disappointed to discover that it was in fact astronomy on the breakfast menu via a remotely

  15. SSNTD-supersymmetry theory unifying cosmic and nucleonic matters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swarup, R.

    2011-01-01

    The SSNTD study instead of being an experimental observation recording rigid geometrical constructs as a consequence of interactions of nuclear radiation with matter really needs an innovation to equate their natural need to facilitate innumerable communication and transmission processes between nucleonic and cosmic matters in the want of quest for the search for the beginning of time and perfect symmetry of universe. It may found potential scientific astronomical base to illustrate the long imagined astrological criteria that the atoms of planets and the molecules consisting of heavy chemical elements of living species belonging to anatomic as well as unanatomic worlds all were cooked up out of higher elements in the nuclear furnaces of stars long ago. The development of nuclear track is prominent nature path making process due to natural radioactivity, cosmic rays etc. to feed the desired matter, field, energy as well as their derivative transfers for sustaining equilibrated growth of all entities in the universe. Nuclear tracks as quantum transporting roads constrain some symmetries of classical world and such anomalously broken symmetries play a crucial role in our present day theories of elementary particles and condensed matter physics. The anomalies, induced as the result of adiabatic change (phase operator associated with radiation field) during quantum evolution, are the manifestation of QFT with polar decomposition of annihilation and creation operators with unique choice. The existence of super symmetry could be ensured by a simultaneous existence of very massive superpartners of ordinary quantum particles-quarks, leptons and gluons namely quarkinos, leptinos and gluinos with astonished characters undetected so far. While diagramming the unification of forces with the temperature rise of the universe, one may ensure that at Planck temperature, all forces are unified under the aegis of a supergravity theory. At lower- T, the supersymmetry is broken giving

  16. TYCHO Brahe's Empiric Methods, His Instruments, His Sudden Escape from Denmark and a New Theory About His Death

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thykier, C.

    1992-07-01

    by the young new King Christian IV. Almost all of Tycho Brahe's privileges given to him by the late King Frederik II were taken from him. Shortly after that, he gathered his family and assistants and went to Rostock, from where he wrote a letter to Christian IV saying that he would contemplate returning to Denmark if the king would give him back his privileges. Christian very sternly answered the astronomer that if he should hope to return to Denmark he had to act like a servant. Tycho was too proud to go down to his knees for the king and never returned. So the reason for Tycho's acceptance of the invitation by Emperor Rudolf to come to Prague was that Christian IV would not continue the very considerable financial support to Tycho of about one percentage of the state income. The latest historical research has indicated that a "camarilla" of enemies stood behind Christian IV's aversion against Tycho. Tycho was not merely an astronomer, but also an astrologer and alchemist. As far as we know he never tried to make gold; his alchemic experiments were of medical character. This was not legal without permission from the Church and the University. Both the clergy and the doctors of the university envied the great scientist because princes and learned people preferred to visit Tycho at his "private university" on the island of Hven instead of visiting the University of Copenhagen. A new theory about Tycho's death has appeared. It has always been told that he died of a burst urinary bladder because he drank too much at parties. According to forensic medicine, however, this cannot be true. Tycho lived for some time after he became ill, and a bursted bladder would cause sudden death. A more plausible explanation would be that Tycho poisoned himself with his very strong medicines containing heavy metals like mercury and arsenic.

  17. AN OLD TURKISH TRADITION IN OTTOMAN PALACE: GIFT EXCHANGE IN THE NEW YEAR OSMANLI SARAYINDA ESKİ BİR TÜRK GELENEĞİ: YENİ YILDA HEDİYELEŞME

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emine DİNGEÇ

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available As gift exchange in the New Year became a common custom around the world in our time, it was an old tradition for the Turkish people. According to the old Turkish culture, the new year begins at 21th of March. It was celebrated with joy and happiness among the people. Gift exchange was an important part of this celebration as strengthening the relations and amity in the society. This tradition can be noticed in the Ottoman palace. Nevruz (a holiday celebrated at the vernal equinox was celebrated in the Ottoman palace and expansive gifts were presented to the some of the palace officials. Among these officials, Hekimbaşı (Sultan's chief physician who prepares special macun (compound called Nevruziye for the new year and müneccimbaşı (the chief astrologer of the Ottoman sultan who arranges the new calender were the two who regularly receives special gifts from the sultan. On the other hand, the sultan himself received gifts from the prominent figures in the palace such as viziers, kaptan paşa, governors, yeniçeri ağası. Among the gifts the horses specially called “Hediye-i Nevruziye” were the most favorite. Undoubtedly, using the tradition of gift exchange for political maneuvers in the palace was common incident. According to the Ottoman palace custom, most of the gifts were registered. This paper is about the reflections of an old Turkish tradition of gift exchange in the Ottoman palace. Günümüzde yeni yılda hediyeleşmek gelenek haline gelmiştir. Yeni yılda hediyeleşme kültürü Türkler için çok eskilere dayanmaktadır. Eski Türkler, yeni yıla kullandıkları takvime göre 21 Mart’ta girer ve bu günü bir bayram havasında, sevinç ve coşkuyla dostları ile birlikte kutlardı. Hediyeleşme de aradaki dostluk ve sevgi bağlarının güçlendirilmesi açısından bu seremoninin bir parçasıydı. Bu kültürün izlerine Osmanlı sarayında da rastlanmaktadır. Osmanlı sarayında nevruz yani yılbaşı çok

  18. Book Review: Beitraege zur Astronomiegeschichte, Band 5 (Acta Historica Astronomiae Vol. 15)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duerbeck, H. W.; Dick, W. R.; Hamel, J.

    2002-12-01

    The 15th volume of the Acta Historica Astronomiae is at the same time the fifth collection of essays on the history of astronomy (Beitraege zur Astronomiegeschichte, Band 5), edited by the historians of astronomy W.R. Dick (Potsdam) and J. Hamel (Berlin). Besides a few short notices and book reviews, the book contains 11 major articles, which deal with astronomical topics covering the time from the 16th to the 20th centuries. The first article, on the analysis and interpretation of historical horoscopes as a source of the history of science, is based on the inaugural lecture of its author, Guenther Oestmann. After a general introduction, which deals with the principles of horoscope making, the author discusses the horoscope of Count Heinrich Ranzau (1526-1598), the Danish governor of Schleswig-Holstein, who was a friend of Tycho Brahe. Oestmann shows that the astronomical-mathematical basis of such a horoscope can be reconstructed and interpreted. However, it is hardly possible to gain an insight in the process how the interpretation of a horoscope was done in detail. The second and third articles, by Franz Daxecker, deal with Athanasius Kircher and Christoph Scheiner, two catholic astronomers of the 17th century. Kircher's Organum Mathematicum is a calculating device that can be used in the fields of arithmetic, geometry, chronology, astronomy, astrology and others. The author provides extracts of the description of the Organum taken from a book by Caspar Schott, which deal with chronology and astronomy. A photograph of the Organum indicates that this tool consists of a set of tables glued on wooden or cardboard, but details of its contents and applications remain pretty obscure for the reader - a few elaborated examples would have been helpful. The second paper deals with the life of Christoph Scheiner SJ, the co-discoverer of sunspots (next to Galileo), after leaving Rome in 1633 - the year of the Galileo trial. Scheiner spent his later years in the Austrian and

  19. El boto y los geoglifos de Nasca: una contribución de la investigación estética en la arqueología

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    1974-01-01

    rito con la forma plástica del mismo y que se enlazan en un misterioso pero igualmente elocuente propósito. El arte como excedente de energías encuentra la posibilidad de llevar a cabo mediante este residuo de 'energía cultural', la forma que el mito exige para su significado. Esta manifestación no necesariamente ha de ser plástica puede ejercerse con otras formas de arte, bailes, cantos o lances deportivos, de competencia (al igual que el 'agón' griego que también pueden incluirse en este caso como expresión estética, en espacios rigurosamente señalados y consagrados en cumplimiento de esos ritos. Estos son los fundamentos de juicio crítico-estético que apoyan la tesis del autor La astrología (o religiosidad, puesto que hay armonía entre el astro solar y la existencia humana conjuga con el arte y desarrolla su actividad en los múltiples y complejos trazos-rectilíneos juntamente con oíros dibujos totémicos entrelazados y relacionados con estos trazos, algunos largos de kilómetros. Hace una memoria de su señalamiento y analiza el 'Informe Hawkins' como el más reciente y científico paso de investigación y que determina una fecha para la ejecución de estos trazos entre los años 390 a 500 de la era cristiana. Hawkins declara que estos trazos 'no parecen tener significado astronómico' por lo mismo cabe inclinarse hacia la hipótesis lúdicra del autor de este ensayo, como expresiones sociales en las que interviene un determinado sentido de juego, del deporte religioso. Entre los muchos glifos totémicos figura lo del cetáceo Boto (Orea gladiator que aparece ya en la cerámica del primer período cultural, el 'naturalista', que florece en los tiempos del sub-estilo 'nasca' de Lumbreras (100-300 d.C.. Comenta la posibilidad de errores en su trazo y señala el ejemplo como prueba de un rito que no es de una simple gratificación estética. Y deduce, de acuerdo con opiniones autorizadas, el desarrollo socio-político del 'genio' nasquense hasta su

  20. The Sun as you never saw it before

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-02-01

    The remarkable images come from SOHO's visible-light coronagraph LASCO. It masks the intense rays from the Sun's surface in order to reveal the much fainter glow of the solar atmosphere, or corona. Operated with its widest field of view, in its C3 instrument, LASCO's unprecedented sensitivity enables it to see the thin ionized gas of the solar wind out to the edges of the picture, 22 million kilometres from the Sun's surface. Many stars are brighter than the gas, and they create the background scene. The results alter human perceptions of the Sun. Nearly 30 years ago, Apollo photographs of the Earth persuaded everyone of what until then they knew only in theory, that we live on a small planet. Similarly the new imagery shows our motion in orbit around the Sun, and depicts it as one star among - yet close enough to fill the sky emanations that engulf us. For many centuries even astrologers knew that the Sun was in Sagittarius in December and drifting towards the next zodiacal constellation, Capricornus. This was a matter of calculation only, because the Sun's own brightness prevented a direct view of the starfield. The SOHO-LASCO movie makes this elementary point of astronomy a matter of direct observation for the first time. The images are achievable only from a vantage point in space, because the blue glow of the Earth's atmosphere hides the stars during the day. A spacial allocation of observing time, and of data tranmission from the SOHO spacecraft, enabled the LASCO team to obtain large numbers of images over the period 22-28 December 1996. Since then, a sustained effort in image processing, frame by frame, has achieved a result of high technical and aesthetic quality. Only now is the leader of the LASCO team, Guenter Brueckner of the US Naval Research Laboratory, satisfied with the product and ready to authorize its release. "I spend my life examining the Sun," Brueckner says, "but this movie is a special thrill. For a moment I forget the years of effort that

  1. Successful online learning – the five Ps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jim FLOOD

    2004-04-01

    we tend to feel that we have a right to roam around and to dip in to whatever catches our interest. Online courses need to offer this same facility through intuitive navigation and iconic signalling–and even more so if the course is to be retained as a source of reference. When multi-media designers stop feeding the frenzy of the people who market online learning, we might begin to see some appropriate use of it. Sadly the visual ergonomics of a learning environment are poorly understood and rarely viewed as important by learning designers-and results in a weakness in many online environments in which the visual mode of learning is dominant. Pedagogy I look forward to the day when there is a collective realisation of how extremely limited (and contradictory most of the current educational theories really are. For example, my own view is that ‘Learning Styles’ as a predictive model for how people learn is about as effective as using astrological charts to make decisions about the future. We can be certain of very little when it comes to an understanding of how people learn. What is emerging form experience and research is that effective learning is much more a function of the emotional response to a learning environment than the techniques and structures that it is based on. For learning to be effective the learner needs to feel Included, Individual, Interested and Inspired. How much online learning have you seen that manages to achieve these 4 Is? Promotion Long ago in the early dawn of online learning (about 1997, there was a widely held belief that this new form of computer-mediated learning was so wonderful that people could not wait to take part. Those of you old enough to remember will recall that it was described as a ‘killer application’ 2 –which, given the number of learners ‘killed off’ by online learning (about 70% who take part 3, turned out to be a highly prescient descriptor. Many organisations who are now re-launching online learning realise the

  2. News & Announcements

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-02-01

    education in thermal analysis; it will consist of Mettler-Toledo thermal analysis instrumentation, peripherals, training and service. Applications must be submitted by April 1, 2000. Application forms may be downloaded from http://www.na.mt.com. Questions should be directed to Jon Foreman, Product Manager, Thermal Analysis, Mettler-Toledo, Inc., 1900 Polaris Parkway, Columbus, OH 43240; phone: 1-800/638-8537; fax: 614/438-4871; email: Thermal.Grant@mt.com. Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities Cosmos in the Classroom 2 A national symposium on the trials and tribulations of teaching astronomy to college non-science majors will be held at the Pasadena, California, Convention Center on July 17-19, 2000, as part of the 112th Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Designed for everyone who teaches introductory astronomy, the symposium will focus on ways to improve teaching, to involve students more effectively, and to put astronomy in a wider context. Specific discussion topics will include: getting out of lecture mode, using the Web effectively, dealing with creationism and astrology, and laboratory and observation projects. The 2.5-day program will involve panels of mentor instructors, an exchange of handouts and teaching resources, hands-on workshops for trying new techniques and approaches, and lots of time for discussion. Participants will range from veteran instructors to nervous graduate students about to teach their first solo course. We especially hope to involve those teaching astronomy in small colleges without extensive astronomy research programs, and colleagues in other sciences who teach astronomy on a part-time basis. To get on the mailing list for the meeting, send your name, institution, email, and postal mailing address (indicating an interest in the 2000 Education Symposium) via: email: meeting@aspsky.org; fax: 415/337-5205 (Attn: 2000 Education Symp.) mail: 2000 Education Symposium, ASP, 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112