Product Description

`Superb general account.' Times Literary SupplementThe story of the history of Western astrology begins with the philosophers of Greece in the 5th century BC. To the magic and stargazing of Egypt the Greeks added numerology, geometryand rational thought. The philosophy of Plato and later of the Stoics made astrology respectable, and by the time Ptolemy wrote his textbook the Tetrabiblos, in the second century AD, the main lines of astrological practice as it is known today had already been laid down. In future centuries astrology shifted to Islam only to return to the West in medieval times where it flourished until the shift of ideas during the Renaissance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384929 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

Review
A delight to read and an excellent guide through so wide-ranging and complex a subject...superb general account.' The Times Literary Supplement`Lucid, well-informed and concise...stimulates thought and commands respect.' New York Times Book Review`Tester's book because of its breadth and solid textual explications might become the standard historical introduction, in English, to the language of the skies.' Richard Kremer, Speculum

Customer Reviews

A comprehensive survey of astrological writers to the C17
This book will be of interest to historians of astronomy as well as astrology.

As Jim Tester (a classics lecturer) explains, the two subjects were considered one, until comparatively recent times.

The book traces the history of 'astrologia' from it's early beginnings in ancient Greece. Despite its links to Mesopotamia and Egypt, mathematical astrology is regarded by the author as a Greek invention.

The major flaw in the astrological system was the unresolved conflicts between different theories of House division.

The survival of astrology in the Latin middle ages of Western Europe is covered in some depth. Astrology had a place in the standard university education for scholars (particularly medical doctors).

The renaissance period led to new astrological theories by Morin and Kepler. But the sucesses of scientific astronomy and the Enlightenment led to the sidelining and abandonment of astrology by the learned world.

The book is well researched and written, but will be best appreciated by people with some pre-knowledge of the history of ideas or the history of science.