Sky & Telescope May 1988 [antikvár]

focal pointYou're an Astronomer? What's Your Sign?I'LL BET there's not an astronomer alivewho wouldn't like to have a clear night for every time he or she has heard that one.Astrology how could anyone be idiotic enough to mix that up with astronomy? Yet it happens again and again. I remember the first time I heard the two confused. My husband. Bob, and 1 were sitting in a steaming hot-tub at a ski lodge high in the Sierra Nevadas. We were treating ourselves to a vacation planned to consist of glorious, sunny days of skiing followed by crisp, clear nights of stargazing.At first the strangers sharing the huge tub with us spoke only of the day's skiing. Then slowly they settled back to relax sore muscles and get to know one another.The steadily rising steam fogged the pool area and obscured the night sky. Even if it had not, the many unshielded lights flooding the lodge grounds would have squelched the possibility of observing nearby."So much for astronomy tonight," I said quietly, seeing that my partner was too exhausted to drive out of the area in search of darker skies."Oh, are you two into astronomy too?" squealed the pretty blonde sitting next to Bob. "What a coincidence! So are we," she giggled, tugging on the hand of the young man beside her. "I'm a Libra, and Jeff's a Gemini. What's your sign?"Using all the etiquette instilled in me by my determined parents, I managed not to show my dismay at the childish error. I simply smiled politely and replied, "I'm an Aries." When it came to astrology I knew little else. That didn't really matter, though, because the rest of the group perked up and rallied around the question. I didn't need to say another word, only listen with indignant fascination as a discussion about the professed personality traits of the various zodiacal signs transformed the former strangers' dispositions from happy to serious to downright silly.Several months later I had a humbling experience that both helped me to understand the confusion between astronomy and astrology and gave me the resolve to meet it head on when I next encounter it.As a student of history I collect old books. One day I came home with a history of astronomy filled with gorgeouscolor prints of astronomical art and gilded star maps. As I pored over a series of drawings of constellations framed with strange, colorful creatures. Bob walked in and glanced at me with surprise."That's an unusual choice of reading!" he exclaimed."A history of astronomy? Why?" I answered."That's not what it says on the cover."Bewildered, I closed the book and turned to its worn leather spine. There I found Encyclopedia of Astrology in faded silver letters. I had to laugh. Somehow, while juggling an armload of other books at the secondhand store, I had misread the title of this one.I decided to take advantage of my mistake and read up on the history of astrology. I learned that astrology, astronomy, religion, and medicine arose together thousands of years ago and were apparently embodied in a highly revered priesthood. All four have been intertwined in popular myth, tradition, and superstition ever since.Astrology appeared in different forms among the various Eurasian cultures. The version most of us are familiar with arose in the Middle East. There early peoples believed that as the Sun, Moon, and planets wandered along what we now call the ecliptic, they exerted their vast heavenly powers to cast sins and virtues on the newborn.Throughout much of the Old World, people looked to astrologers to guide theirbehavior and divine the future by interpreting signs like comets and conjunctions. In their effort to make reliable predictions, the practitioners of this art kept detailed, accurate records of celestial motions. Indeed, much of what we know about ancient astronomy comes from the writings of early astrologers.But not everyone held astrology in high regard. As early as A.D. 77, Pliny the Elder wrote that everyone wants to know his or her future, so obviously there will be people who take advantage of others' gulhbility. In 16th-century France, physician Henry Cornelius Agrippa said astrology was "based upon no other foundation but upon mere trifles, and feignings of imaginations." And Johannes Kepler called it "astronomy's foolish daughter."After the invention of the telescope astronomers discovered new planets, and astrologers struggled to find the niches where these bodies were surely meant to fit in the grand cosmic scheme. This done, they felt assured that their predictive powers were now greater than ever. But the same discoveries helped scientists repudiate astrology and label it pseudoscience at best.Today astronomy and astrology have divorced completely, at least as viewed by astronomers. Scientists have spilled gallons of ink debunking the "science" behind casting horoscopes. Nevertheless, millions still consult their newspaper's astrology column before starting each day. Some do it out of a need or desire to believe that some mysterious force controls their lives. Others surely do it just for fun. Either way, they probably outnumber those of us who relate to the heavens through astronomy, and their unbridled enthusiasm cannot be denied.So today, when I find myself talking with someone who is bubbling over with appreciation for astrology, 1 remember Griffith Observatory director Edwin Krupp. He wrote that scientists should try to gain the higher ground by expounding astronomy's "sense of the mystery and wonder of the cosmos, of the Earth, and of human history."BEVERLY MOSIERThe author is an artist, wt ?ur astronomer living in LagufornFocal Point ; ers who wisher, and ama-I Beach, Cali-vites contributions from read-3 comtnem on contemporaryny and space science.