| Instructor | Kim Plofker |
| Department | History of Mathematics |
| Kim_Plofker@Brown.edu | |
| Office | Wilbour Hall, Room 001 |
| Office phone | 863-1489 |
| Office hours | M 4--5, W 2--3, Th 3--5 |
| Readings and assignments |
Course Description: This course does not pretend to teach students how to predict the future, but it offers some unique insights into the past. Beginning with its roots in Mesopotamian celestial divination, we trace the development of astrology from ancient "science" to modern "pseudoscience," exploring its interactions with science and culture in various civilizations of Eurasia.
Course Overview: Astrology has continually and significantly influenced the philosophy, literature, science, and daily life of the major civilizations of Asia and Europe for the past two thousand years and more. Yet its history is almost universally neglected in the academic study of these civilizations. Astrology is now so widely condemned among educated people as an intellectually degraded and pernicious pursuit that the serious exploration of the development and impact of its ideas is seldom or never attempted. "History of Astrology and History of Science" seeks to restore this censored knowledge to our common understanding of the past.
There are three chief goals for student learning in this course:
To these ends, students will be required to read (in English translation) primary sources ranging from technical manuals on astronomy and astrology to literary, philosophical, and theological discussions of their significance, and from fifteenth-century (BCE) Mesopotamia to twentieth-century (CE) America. They will need to become familiar, through reading and practical experiment, with the basic facts and techniques of pre-modern astronomy and astrology and their historical context. Some readings from secondary source materials will be used to supply more general coverage. In class, lectures and discussions will provide more information and ideas about the discoveries from students' individual work.
The course meets in I hour (T/Th 10:30--11:50 AM) from Thursday 23 January through Thursday 1 May in 309 Wilson Hall. It is open to all undergraduates (up to a maximum of 50, since no teaching assistant is available) who either possess or are willing to acquire an adequate grounding in the basics of geometry, trigonometry, and world history to enable them to understand the subjects covered by the course. Students will demonstrate their control of the material over the course of the semester in two short (3--5 pages) papers, a longer (10 pages) midterm paper, a short project on astrological practice, and a final project on a topic of the student's choice, subject to the approval of the instructor. Each short paper or project will count 10% in the determination of the final grade, the midterm paper 20%, the final project 40%, and in-class participation 10%.
The current list of assigned texts for the course is as follows:
| Source | Bookstore | Library (Rock) |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Shank, ed., The Scientific Enterprise in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (excerpts) | Available | On reserve |
| Erica Reiner, Astral Magic in Babylonia | Available | On reserve |
| A. Aaboe, Episodes from the Early History of Astronomy (excerpts) | --- | On reserve |
| Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos | Available | On reserve |
| Cicero, The Nature of the Gods and On Divination | Available | On reserve |
| E. Sachau, Alberuni's India | Available | On reserve |
| Mini-coursepack on social/cultural context of astrology | At Allegra Printing | On reserve |
| Coursepack, part 2 | At Allegra Printing | On reserve |
| Week | Topics |
|---|---|
| 1 | The debate about early science, "pseudo-science", and "scientific method". Origins of astrology in divination in ancient Mesopotamia. The diviner's profession; omens for king and country; astral omens. "Applied astral omens": astral influences in other activities. |
| 2 | Second-millennium astronomy and calendrics. Canonical texts such as Enuma Anu Enlil. First-millennium celestial divination and astronomy in Babylonia. The epistolary record: letters from astral diviners to kings. |
| 3 | Mathematical models and astronomical prediction: Babylonian numerical astronomy. The nature and significance of scientific transmission. Greek astronomy and geometric models; Aristotelian physics. 14 February: short paper #1 due. |
| 4 | The changing political landscape in Mesopotamia and the development of the personal nativity forecast. The adaptation of horoscopic astrology by the Greeks: early horoscopes in the Hellenistic world. |
| 5 | Astrology and its criticism become entrenched in Western culture. Systems of horoscopic and other astrological prediction; the physical Aristotelian rationalization of them in works such as the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy. Arguments against the validity of astrology. |
| 6 | The associated/companion disciplines of astrology in ancient science: iatromathematics, astrometeorology, alchemy. Anti-astrological views in medieval Christianity; Christianity and science. |
| 7 | Historical course of astrology beyond the classical world. Its relation to other Arabic sciences; astrology's place with respect to Islam. 14 March: midterm paper due. |
| 8 | Preview of astrology in the Scientific Revolution. 18 March: class trip to Rutkin lecture on "Astrology and the Scientific Revolution: a Reappraisal". |
| 9 | The role of astrology in medieval Indian culture. The development of Arabic astrology from Greek, Indian, Sasanian roots. |
| 10 | The growth of astrology in the Latin West and its relation to the medieval universities and academic disciplines. Astrological practice: the horoscopic chart, the astrolabe. |
| 11 | Theories of Renaissance humanism and rationales for astrological influences; attempts at astrological reform. Astrology in the works and thought of shapers of the "Scientific Revolution." |
| 12 | The decoupling of astrology from science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; rationales and strategies. Its survival in nineteenth-century Romanticism. 28 April: short project (horoscope) due. |
| 13 | Twentieth-century controversies about "scientific validation" of astrology; the "Mars Effect". Shift from "objective" or "judicial" to "psychological" or "subjective" astrology. Astrology in "New Age" and in the "science wars." 2 May: deadline for short paper #2 (astronomical observations). 15 May: final project due. |
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