Will You Read With Me...
Astrology may be mysterious, even hokey! to many, but I can't keep a secret, I am intrigued by books like David Berlinski's. There's a lot of history, including science, that I think would make a great book club discussion to look at the history and mystery surrounding astrology and The Secrets of the Vaulted Sky. I enjoyed it tremendously, for Berlinski is famous for his scientific and mathematical research and for his great writing. The book might be a meeting ground for skeptics and devotees of astrology. But, also to anyone who loves history. Before the Christian Era, astrology was "it" for most people who sought insight, guidance and understanding in a confusing world. Christianity and Islam incorporated much of the wisdom handed down from astrologers for many years.
My instinctive interest in astrology probably started when I was a young mother. I stumbled onto some pre-set designs for making artistic renderings in cross-stitch and similar hand-sewn tapestries of birth-sign illustrations. I was struck by the design and descriptive artwork I could customize for my children. Framed, they became personalized elements for the walls of their bedrooms.
The designs were playful, but somehow seemed to capture fundamental qualities of their personalities. Some time later, I was "called on the carpet" by a nervous member of my church for my devilish ways, but that is another story.
Image used under Creative Commons
The Secrets of the Vaulted Sky
by David Berlinski
Here's what the Chicago Tribune has to say about David Berlinski and The Vaulted Sky: "Here's a foolproof mathematical formula: DB plus AT equals EB. Translation - David Berlinski plus any topic equals an extraordinary book....Making simple and accessible that which had previously been murky and intimidating is Berlinski's specialty."
Please go here for information or to buy
The Secrets of the Vaulted Sky: Astrology and the Art of Prediction
"The dust jacket says: Kings, queens, geniuses, and ordinary people have looked to the stars..."
Of All the Reviews on Amazon - This one mirrors the most how I felt about "Secrets of the Vaulted Sky"
Curiously, Berlinski has drawn a lot of fire for proposing certain questions about Darwinism as it relates to the scientific method.
Two Astronomers One of Whom is an Arab Gentleman Examine a Star in the Sky Through a Telescope Giclee Print
W. Davidson
Please go here for information or to buy at AllPosters.com
Synopsis from the dustjacket
You're standing in the book store aisle, attracted by the cover art....
The astrologer is a figure almost as old as history itself, and his science - if it is a science - expresses the universal human desire to pierce the veil of the future - if it can be pierced.
Whispering into the ears of kings, working from seedy waterfront offices, or keeping themselves in seclusion the better to study the secrets of the vaulted sky, astrologers saw in the stars a universal system, knowledge without limit. Their theory remained a fixture of thought until, all at once, astrology seemed to disappear, as Isaac Newton for the first time demonstrated the power of an authentic scientific system.
But its doctrine has not vanished, and turns up, surprisingly, in many aspects of modern science. In this respect, astrology cannot die because the desire to see into the future is an immortal human longing.
In a most fascinating and sophisticated treatment, David Berlinski's superb new book traces the birth, life, and continuing power of astrology in our world.
Will you join me to read The Secrets of the Vaulted Sky?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byThis sounds like the rational approach to astrology I've been looking for.
Sorry, better books than this are on my list.
I love the solemn respect David Berlinski has for historians
These are rich-treasure tales told to link us to the heart of our foremothers and forefathers
"That morning I trudged down the banks of the Seine to viisit the Bibliotheque Nationale, the great national library of France." He then describes how his approach to the building is by "means of a wide but very steep series of polished wooden steps."
He had to show credentials given him by the French government before the librarian - who eventually became as enthralled (almost) as he with his project - would allow him to see the object of his journey through the ancient building. "I had asked permission to see the library's copy of Major-General sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson's The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia." (My dictionary defines cuneiform -as relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets.) Berlinski said there was a portion of the great 19th century soldier-scholar's work that he was interested in: "the very key to ancient astrology; it marks the place where every path led somewhere new."
"I asked the librarian to open the book for me. After smoothing her hair behind her ears, she pulled on a pair of pink surgeon's gloves and began slowly turning the pages. I was fascinated and so was she. Each page is divided more or less into quadrants, and the quadrants filled with hand-drawn cuneiform inscriptions, both troubling and incomprehensible."
Life in the ancient world lay represented on the page in forgotten symbols. Yet, if studied, reveal a part of our history when humans looked to the stars, the planets, the moon and sun with awe unlike anything we know today.
Stocktrek Images
30 in. x 40 in.
Please go here for information or to buy at AllPosters.com
Berlinski: ...my editor said "write a book about the history of a 'failed science'." Every other comment I find about the book sounds like it's about a science on the wings of rediscovery.
If you're ahead of me by having already read this book, give me your evaluation
Oh, and please stop back by to see what others say who read this book along with me.
More books by David Berlinski
Vote for your favorites, or add any I missed.
The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski
Militant atheism is on the rise. Richard Dawkins, more...0 points
A Tour of the Calculus by David Berlinski
Were it not for the calculus, mathematicians would more...0 points
The Advent of the Algorithm: The 300-Year Journey from an Idea to the Computer by David Berlinski
Simply put, an algorithm is a set of instructions- more...0 points
Black Mischief: Language, Life, Logic, Luck-Second Edition by David Berlinski
A protean look at the science establishment-as wel more...0 points
David Berlinski on Wikipedia
David Berlinski (born 1942 in New York City) is an American educator and author of several books on mathematics. He is a leading critic of evolution within the intelligent design movement and author of several magazine articles on the topic. Berlinski is a secular Jew and agnostic, and according to a 2008 Slate magazine profile "a critic, a contrarian, and ? by his own admission ? a crank ...and zealous skeptic, more concerned with false gods than real ones."[http://www.slate.com/id/2189178/entry/2189179/ The Paranoid Style in American Science: A Crank's Progress], Daniel Engber, Slate magazine, April 15, 2008
Thanks for stopping by
I would LOVE to have your comments to read - whether or not you join me to read The Vaulted Sky
Postscript of utmost importance
If you buy any of the books recommended above, this page automatically makes a donation to the incredible nonprofit, Donors Choose, which helps provide classrooms and students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. by LoKackl
Explore related pages
Stars and Dinosaurs- When we gaze at a distant star twinkling in the night sky. What we are actually...
The Astrology of Midlife and Aging
- If Author Erin Sullivan is newer to you than reading anything at all based on as...
Choosing an Astronomical Telescope- When the telescope's inventor, Galileo first gazed through the portals of his in...
Carl Sagan- A squidoote (tribute) to Carl Sagan and astronomy, astrophysics, the cosmos, sci...
Armchair Astronomy- Maybe you're like me - absolutely fascinated by the universe but unable to affor...
Transit of Mercury - A Curious Eclipse- Skywatchers and Stargazers are preparing for a rare solar system event: On...
