Fated Sky: Astrology in History, The by Bobrick, Benson - 2005

Simon & Schuster, 2005. Hardcover book is in new, never been read condition. Dust jacket is in like new condition. Minor shelf wear on edges of dust jacket. Inside of book pages are crisp and clean, no stains. ISBN# 0743224825. 2005 edition. 384 pages long. Approx: 9.5 by 6.5 by 1.5. Publisher: Simon and Schuster. Additional pictures of condition are always available. BOOK DESCRIPTION: In this lively work, historian Bobrick (Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired) takes the reader on a kaleidoscopic journey through the history of the reading of the stars. As he shows, from astrology's birth 6,000 years ago in Babylonia to the Reagan White House, the stars have been studied, interpreted and followed: they drove Christopher Columbus to America, says Bobrick, and their study led to the sciences of astronomy and chemistry. While he gives a nod to the eastern mystics who originated astrology, Bobrick mostly traces the many threads of astrology as they weave through Western thought. Copernicus, Isaac Newton and even Martin Luther studied the astrology texts of their day, using them not only for personal guidance but as a tool in their own remarkable work. Attacked by establishment churches and debunked and scoffed at by contemporary science, astrology has stayed with us and flourishes. Astrology goes far beyond the daily horoscopes in newspapers as Bobrick illustrates in his appealing history of the study of the stars and how they affect the destinies of people and events. Bobrick traces the origins of astrology back to Mesopotamia, 4,000 years before the birth of Christ. Astrology played an important part in Roman politics, with the emperors paying particular attention to their astrologers. It also figures into biblical lore, as Bobrick acknowledges that the Magi are identified as astrologers in most contemporary translations of the Bible. Personal horoscope charts were all the rage during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: astrologers had offices complete with globes and astrolabes where clients would visit to have their stars read based on the exact time and date of their birth.. First Edition. Hard Cover. New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.