Is Astrology the mother of Science?

Question

We all know Astrology has existed for ages and ancients have used this method to determine things like fertile seasons and high and low tides. So why is it that people now think of Astrology as a corrupted sort of cult, and why has it lost the respect people once had for it? Was Astrology the beginning of actual science?

Answer 1

At one time, astrology was it.

However, it was based on the fact that the purpose of stars, planets, comets, etc. was to give us messages.

The planets were pushed along by gods, later, by angels according to God's wishes, so that the wisest of us could decipher these wishes and dictate them to the rest of the unwashed plebe.

Then, about some 2,000 years ago, some started to think that maybe the whole thing was simply built that way, with planets on some kind of orbits around us, without the need for gods, or angels, or messages (other than finding out when seasons are about to begin).

When people began to apply a 'scientific' approach, they began to make predictions about the position of planets (for example) that worked even though they did not consider any gods' wishes. They reduced everything to some mechanical rules: mass creates gravity, gravity causes orbits, orbit have periods, therefore we can predict where Jupiter will be next year at this date.

Lots of people did not like that approach. They prefered when the sky was there to tell them what to do. Especially if their horoscope said that they would become rich or powerful one day.

However, there is no scientific evidence that the position of the planets can 'incluence' our lives. If you calculate the effect that a planet can have on you according to a change in position (over a year for example), whether you try to find a gravitational, magnetic, light or tidal influence, you find numbers so small that a passing car should have about ten thousand times more influence on your life (and it probably does if you don't look before crossing the street).

Of course, astrologers will then pretend that the force is not detectable by scientific instruments (then, how come the human mind can detect it).

Answer 2

Back in the early Roman days astrology was outlawed by the Romans as being pure superstition. The study of the tides, planting, etc. is a science. It's called astronomy. Astronomy is science. Astrology is superstition.

Answer 3

Astrology is to astronomy as alchemy is to chemistry. Before the development of the scientific method, there was quite a bit of "thrashing around in the dark", trying to make sense of the world. Some of these attempts yielded some useful results, but most simply resulted in nonsense. To the extent that astrology is pre-scientific astronomy, it was a precursor. But the development of scientific methodology put an end to most astrological ideas connecting events on earth to those in the heavens, and astronomy began as a rational field of study some 400 or 500 years ago. The development of rational thought and scientific method has led to the abandonment of almost all of astrology. To continue to uphold astrological ideas is to embrace the discredited superstitions of the past.

Answer 4

No... Physics / Astronomy is the actual mother of science.

Astrology has nothing to do with science at all, it is purely a way of fortunetelling , It is not an actual science at all .

Answer 5

astrology isnt a science, astronomie is.
and i think the actual start of science was when man first caught more than 1 chicken at a time and said, HEY IVE GOT 2 CHICKENS.

Answer 6

There has never been a single legitimate scientific study giving credibility to astrology.

Answer 7

No, it's the mother of superstition.

Answer 8

The words 'science' and 'astrology' don't even go together..!

Answer 9

i think it is