Ptolemy (c. 150 AD), whom many consider to be the greatest scientist of the ancient world, authored a major astrological work, the Tetrabiblos(four books on astrology). In it he divided astrology into two fundamental categories: Universal and Genethlialogical. The former was concerned with natural phenomena such as climate, weather, tides, agriculture, plagues, etc. The later was concerned with the affairs of humans
From the height of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance, the scientific writings of a single author defined both astronomy and astrology. Claudius Ptolemy (c. 150), often referred to as the greatest scientist of the ancient world, was the author of the Almagest (or Syntaxis Mathematica), a detailed, mathematically sophisticated work on the movements of the solar system. In it the circular motions of the Sun, Moon and planets in an Earth-centered universe were explained and demonstrated.
The lack of a general theory for astrology has kept it from progressing in a scientific way for over 400 years. Prior to the Scientific Revolution, however, astrological theory was in accord with a prevailing scientific view that included the notion of the Earth as a living, organic system. This idea was central to the elaborate astrological cosmobiology of the Stoics and also that of Johannes Kepler. There is one modern multi-disciplinary scientific view, the Gaia Hypothesis, which approaches the study of the Earth as a kind of living system. Astrology, particularly astro-meteorology and other types of natural astrology, may be relevant to this avenue of inquiry into the nature of our planet.
Roughly 2,700 years ago in ancient Greece, writing began to be used to record the stories that had formerly been kept in the memories of professional storytellers. This was the time of the ransition between the oral tradition and the written tradition, an event perhaps not unlike the transition from print to magnetic and digital media that is taking place today. The first two Greek writers, Homer and Hesiod, are still read by students, classicists, and historians today. Their "books" were the epic poems of Homer, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," and a collection of long poems attributed to Hesiod (Hee'-see-odd) that include the "Works and Days" and the "Theogony." All of Hesiod's works, and those of Homer as well, were written in dactylic hexameter meter, probably because that was the easiest way for these carriers of the oral tradition to keep them memorized.
Milankovitch Cycles are astronomical cycles of the Earth-Sun relationship. Cycles of this nature were suggested in a paper by Sir John Herschel in 1830, Joseph Alphonse Adhemar in a book in 1842 (Revolutions of the Sea), and more importantly, by James Croll in 1875 (Climate and Time). Milutin Milankovitch (1879-1958) developed these ideas over the course of his lifetime publishing Mathematical Theory of Heat Phenomena Produced by Solar Radiation in 1920 and Canon of Insolation of the Earth and its Application to the Problem of Ice Ages in 1941. (Insolation = INcident SOLar RADiation.) Milankovitch showed that three key orbital cycles modulate the amount of insolation the Earth receives over long periods of time.
We owe our lives to our Sun. In fact, almost all life on Earth is fueled by the Sun. The Sun radiates energy that simple organisms feed on, and more complex organisms, such as ourselves, feed on them.
On May 19th of 2004 Theodor Landscheidt, one of the most scientific contributors to the field of astrology in the 20th century, died. He was known, though not necessarily understood, for his occasional journal articles and presentations at conferences, mostly in the 1960’s and 70’s. During the past two decades he was known as a radical climatologist who operated outside the academic institutions and actually made bold predictions, many of which were quite accurate.
One of the most incredible sights I've ever seen occurred on a New Jersey beach when the Moon was full. Here's what happened. My band and I had played a graduation party at Glassboro State College on a Saturday night in May, finishing up around 2 in the morning. After breaking down the equipment and loading our cars, we went to a late night bar for a drink, and after that a diner for breakfast. Before we knew it, it was 5 in the morning.
Plants are more sensitive to light than most other kinds of life on our planet. Light is what they seek, use, and live by. Plants know from what direction light is coming from and they will move themselves out of shade. At the tip of a plant shoot are chemicals called auxins that influence cell division - with more light comes more cell division and consequently more growth and extension. In this way plants will always bend towards the light, something that is obvious to any indoor gardener. This response to light is called phototropism. While plant shoots are positively phototropic, the roots are negatively phototropic and grow away from light.
The best times to fish have long been a part of annual almanacs and sportsman's magazines. The Moon Sign Book that you hold in your hand lists the best fishing and hunting days. Nearly every fishing and hunting magazine has some sort of graph or table that promises the best time to fish or hunt. The standard methods used to determine these dates are fairly simple. Most astrological almanacs simply list the days when the Moon is in one of the water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces). It makes perfect astrological sense, since water is the element in which fish live. It also suggests that fish, or other animals for that matter, may be more reactive when the Moon is in these signs. People are certainly more reactive and emotional during these times.
Throughout history people have noticed correlations between the Moon and the weather. We've all heard the old rhyme "a ring around the Moon means rain, the smaller the ring the sooner the rain." A practical farmer and a skeptical scientist would both agree that there is truth to this saying. The farmer knows it from experience and the scientist has an explanation for it in the high levels of moisture in the atmosphere that cause the ring, and later the rain.
Circadian rhythms are biological cycles of approximately 24 hours that are a general feature of the physiological organization of organisms on Earth. The alternation of the light-dark cycle is the most important environmental signal for circadian systems.