Name: A Scheme of Heaven
ISBN: 9780393634846

Alexander Boxer

An illuminating look at the surprising history and science of astrology, civilization's first system of algorithms, from Babylon to the present day.

The History of Astrology and the Search for Our Destiny in Data

A Scheme of Heaven

Despite a resurgence in popularity, horoscopes are generally considered to be pseudoscience today - but they were once a cutting-edge scientific tool. In this ingenious work of history, data scientist Alexander Boxer examines a treasure trove of esoteric classical sources to expose the deep imaginative framework by which - for millennia - we made sense of our fates. Astrology, he argues, was the ancient world's most ambitious applied mathematics problem, a grand data-analysis enterprise sustained by some of history's most brilliant minds, from Ptolemy to al-Kindi to Kepler. A Scheme of Heaven explores the wonderful subtleties of astrological ideas. Telling the stories of their inventors and most influential exponents, Boxer puts them through their paces using modern data sets - finding that the methods of today's scientists are often uncomfortably close to those of astrology's ancient sages.

Astrology and the Birth of Science

Taylor

A wonderful entry into the history of science. Compelling writing and claims duly backed up with data make this an academic joy to read. Definitely written for the layperson rather than a statistician or astronomer - luckily for this reader! I could see this book being used as an exemplar for Statistics 101 courses to make data analysis relatable and enjoyable. 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

A Scheme of Heaven The History of Astrology and the Search for Our Destiny in Data

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