Readings for Tuesday 28 January:

• Shank, Scientific Enterprise, pp. 1--39

Readings for Thursday 30 January:

• Reiner, Astral Magic, pp. 1--60

Readings for Tuesday 4 February:

• Reiner, Astral Magic, pp. 61--118
• Selections from Babylonian omen texts and diviners' letters
• More selections from Babylonian omen texts and diviners' letters

Readings for Thursday 6 February:

• Handout (A. Aaboe, Episodes, pp. 24--60) from Tuesday on Babylonian mathematical astronomy
• Selections from Babylonian "horoscopes"

Readings for Tuesday 11 February:

• Review readings for Thursday 6 February
• A "standard model" presentation of Greek science: Fowler lectures 4, 5, 8
• Aristotle, On the Heavens, Book II

Readings for Thursday 13 February:

• Shank, Scientific Enterprise, pp. 40--71, 85--109

First short paper (3--5 pp.) due Friday 14 February, 2:00 PM

Topic: In light of our readings in the course so far, explore the question "What is science?" Select two or three of the readings and discuss the different ways in which they interpret the term "science". How does the definition of "science" change for a scientist and for a historian of science?

Readings for Thursday 20 February:

• Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, pp. vii--xii, xxv--xxvi, 3--117 (odd-numbered pages only)

Readings for Tuesday 25 February:

• Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, pp. 117--229 (odd-numbered pages only)

Readings for Thursday 27 February:

• Cicero, On Divination, pp. 141--199

Readings for Tuesday 4 March:

• Cicero, On Divination, pp. 200--263

Readings for Thursday 6 March:

• Shank, Scientific Enterprise, pp. 125--146
• Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, pp. 229--271, 307--317 (odd-numbered pages only)
• Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, Bk. IV, Chapters I--XXVII, XLIII--LI.

Readings for Tuesday 11 March:

• No new readings---mid-semester review

Readings for Thursday 13 March:

• Shank, Scientific Enterprise, pp. 215--231
• Sachau, Alberuni's India, pp. vii--xxvi

Midterm paper (8--10 pp.) due Friday 14 March, 2:00 PM

Topic: Evaluate an encounter you have had with modern astrology in the context of our course's study of the history of astrology and science. (The encounter should be something more in-depth than, say, reading a horoscope in a magazine: seek out something like a discussion with an astrologer, reading a contemporary writer arguing for or against the scientific validity of astrology, etc.) How do these ideas about astrology and science relate to our exploration of their historical development, philosophical underpinnings, and technical practice?

Readings for Tuesday 18 March:

• A "standard model" presentation of the Scientific Revolution
• Shank, Scientific Enterprise, pp. 239--244

Readings for Thursday 20 March:

• No new readings---review ones from last Thursday

Readings for Tuesday 1 April:

• Sachau, Alberuni's India, pp. 17--26, 50--58, 187--195, 263--277 (chapters I, V, XVII, XXVI)

Readings for Thursday 3 April:

• Sachau, Alberuni's India, pp. 211--234 (chapter LXXX, partial)
• Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, pp. 271--307 (odd-numbered pages only)

Readings for Tuesday 8 April:

• Mini-packet on social and cultural context of astrology in medieval India, Islamic world, and Europe (available at Allegra on Thayer and Waterman Streets starting Thursday 3 April; ask for the HM 13 coursepack. One copy has been submitted to be placed on reserve at the Rock).

Readings for Thursday 10 April:

• Campion, "The Concept of Destiny..."
• Shank, Scientific Enterprise, pp. 245--255
• Astrological practice: Reconstructed 17th-c. natal chart
• Astrological practice: The astrolabe, its parts, and its uses

Readings for Tuesday 15 April:

• Review the "standard model" presentation of the Scientific Revolution
• Biography of Kepler (including links in text)
• Writings of Kepler on astrology
• Newton and astrology

Readings for Thursday 17 April:

• Excerpts from "Dialogue Concerning Two Chief World Systems" in HM 13 Part 2 packet, at Allegra (one copy on reserve at the Rock)
• "Kepler and Galileo" in HM 13 Part 2 packet, at Allegra