Celestial Bodies
Astronomy, Astrology and the Story of the Heavens
Stephen CaseA jargon-free reinterpretation of the history of stargazing
Celestial Bodies offers a jargon-free history of astronomy and its relationship with astrology. For most of human history, the study of celestial bodies and their earthly influence was not distinguished. Although the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century sounded the death knell for astrology, many prominent early scientists took it seriously, casting horoscopes while conducting scientific experiments. The notion that celestial influence could be ‘mapped’ onto human lives only slowly became a fringe belief.
Stephen Case deftly explores how astrology transformed from a primary motivation to study astronomy to the pseudo-science that it is today. Only by understanding astrology’s role in astronomy’s development can we fully come to understand the complete story of humanity’s relationship with the stars.
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Stephen Case’s Celestial Bodies offers a highly readable introduction to the history of astronomy that makes ample room for the history of astrology as an important part of the narrative. The story is told in a truly unusual and artful manner, and is easily accessible to those who are turned off by the inclusion of any mathematics in a text. The writing style is clear, witty, and elegant – a true joy to read – and Case makes the reader care about each of his characters (and the astronomical and astrological questions they wrestled with). I know of no other book that consistently treats together the history of both halves of what pre-modern authors called “the science of the stars”.
'Laura Ackerman Smoller, Arthur R. Miller Professor of History, University of Rochester
1. Earth: As Above, So Below
2. Moon: Mirror of Heaven
3. Mercury: Cosmopolitan Stars
4. Venus: Heavenly Rebirth
5. Sun: City of the Sun
6. Mars: War on Mars
7. Jupiter: Seeing Stars
8. Saturn: Ponderous Stars
9. Uranus: The Emperor’s New Star
10. Neptune: Calculated Skies
11. Stars: Connected Cosmos
12. Empyrean: Heaven of Heavens
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Stephen Case is Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Geosciences at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois. His books include Creatures of Reason: John Herschel and the Invention of Science (2024).