A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data

Author: Alexander Boxer
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 039363485X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
An illuminating look at the surprising history and science of astrology, civilization’s first system of algorithms, from Babylon to the present day. Humans are pattern-matching creatures, and astrology is the universe’s grandest pattern-matching game. In this refreshing work of history and analysis, data scientist Alexander Boxer examines classical texts on astrology to expose its underlying scientific and mathematical framework. Astrology, he argues, was the ancient world’s most ambitious applied mathematics problem, a monumental data-analysis enterprise sustained by some of history’s most brilliant minds, from Ptolemy to al-Kindi to Kepler. Thousands of years ago, astrologers became the first to stumble upon the powerful storytelling possibilities inherent in numerical data. To correlate the configurations of the cosmos with our day-to-day lives, astrologers relied upon a “scheme of heaven,” or horoscope, showing the precise configuration of the planets at a particular instant in time as viewed from a particular place on Earth. Although recognized as pseudoscience today, horoscopes were once considered a cutting-edge scientific tool. Boxer teaches us how to read these esoteric charts—and appreciate the complex astronomical calculations needed to generate them—by diagramming how the heavens appeared at important moments in astrology’s history, from the assassination of Julius Caesar as viewed from Rome to the Apollo 11 lunar landing as seen from the surface of the Moon. He then puts these horoscopes to the test using modern data sets and statistical science, arguing that today’s data scientists do work similar to astrologers of yore. By looking back at the algorithms of ancient astrology, he suggests, we can better recognize the patterns that are timeless characteristics of our own pattern-matching tendencies. At once critical, rigorous, and far ranging, A Scheme of Heaven recontextualizes astrology as a vast, technological project—spanning continents and centuries—that foreshadowed our data-driven world today.

A Scheme of Heaven

Author: Alexander Boxer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781259641
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
Despite a resurgence in popularity, horoscopes are generally considered to be pseudoscience today - but they were once a cutting-edge scientific tool. In this ingenious work of history, data scientist Alexander Boxer examines a treasure trove of esoteric classical sources to expose the deep imaginative framework by which - for millennia - we made sense of our fates. Astrology, he argues, was the ancient world's most ambitious applied mathematics problem, a grand data-analysis enterprise sustained by some of history's most brilliant minds, from Ptolemy to al-Kindi to Kepler.A Scheme of Heaven explores the wonderful subtleties of astrological ideas. Telling the stories of their inventors and most influential exponents, Boxer puts them through their paces using modern data sets - finding that the methods of today's scientists are often uncomfortably close to those of astrology's ancient sages.

Scala Coeli: The Ladder of Heaven

Author: Mari Garcia
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780646570617
Category : Astrology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description

A Scheme of Heaven

Author: Alexander Boxer
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782834095
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
Despite a resurgence in popularity, horoscopes are generally considered to be pseudoscience today - but they were once a cutting-edge scientific tool. In this ingenious work of history, data scientist Alexander Boxer examines a treasure trove of esoteric classical sources to expose the deep imaginative framework by which - for millennia - we made sense of our fates. Astrology, he argues, was the ancient world's most ambitious applied mathematics problem, a grand data-analysis enterprise sustained by some of history's most brilliant minds, from Ptolemy to al-Kindi to Kepler. A Scheme of Heaven explores the wonderful subtleties of astrological ideas. Telling the stories of their inventors and most influential exponents, Boxer puts them through their paces using modern data sets - finding that the methods of today's scientists are often uncomfortably close to those of astrology's ancient sages.

The Mutineer, Or Heaven's Vengeance

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Book Description

Heaven's Way

Author: Roger Ladd Memmott
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1257656023
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 405

Book Description
A Gemstone Book (TRADE PAPERBACK) - 403 pages: **** When Danny Davenport and Nick Nicholson first slug it out on the south end of the football field they are two elementary-school innocents already troubled by the prospect of losing their youth. Then comes Lily Winterspring, binding them together "with all the pain of a splinter sewn through [their] hearts." The bitter flows out of the sweet and the bonds between the two are tested, first by sudden tragedy and then by a monstrous duplicity that slowly comes to the surface. **** Combining the intimacy of family and marital relationships, together with a candid yearning and genuine moments of suspense, HEAVEN'S WAY is a deeply moving story about love, loss, and betrayal - and the redemption only faith and devotion can bring. **** Written in the form of a memoir, with confession at its center, and driven thematically by elements of metafiction, HEAVEN'S WAY stands in a genre of its own.

Heaven's Face, Thinly veiled

Author: Sarah Anderson
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1570623635
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Book Description
Women—religious and secular, medieval and modern—have always demonstrated their own unique approach to matters of the spirit. Limited in their public roles throughout much of history, women have been compelled to turn inward, developing rich interior lives in uniquely feminine ways. This anthology brings together women's writing from classic religious literature—Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and Hindu—as well as many passages of fiction and poetry that are truly undiscovered treasures of women's spirituality. With writers ranging from Helen Keller to Aung San Suu Kyi, from Agatha Christie and Ursula K. Le Guin to Rabi'a the Mystic and Hildegard of Bingen. Sarah Anderson's collection proves beyond a doubt that "the exploration of 'the hidden seas within' is a journey on which we can all embark."

Jesus: Heaven's King

Author: James E. Smith, Ph.D.
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1365243443
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Book Description
An introduction to the Gospel of Matthew is followed by a verse-by-verse commentary on the text of the first Gospel.

Properties of Feelings

Author: Frederick Miller
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1499029896
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
“Properties of Feelings is a read beyond comprehension into the unknown shadows of the universe. Being beyond strength and imagination I cannot explain it further this author has seen the best of the world. It bleeds is the strength and commitment of this book. Believing is the end of everything is the statement of this book. How can I survive is the question this book attempts to solve. Now I will tell you to look no further if you are exploring the universe and in search of answers to the impossible. Why can’t I believe is the question we most often ask in a universe that says the answers aren’t there. Keep trying and if you think the answers aren’t there ask again. Ever wonder where your feelings come from? I cannot explain it but your feelings are real and the universe will support this idea. It isn’t the idea that you are real it is the idea that feelings make it so. Belief is supported through strength and courage and conviction. Heart is everything in a world of plenty. Life begins and ends on a notation that sings. Politics is everything to a philosophy that ordains it. Now I must excuse this book as far as I can tell it believes in something called the notation. But enough about that if you believe in something you believe in your feelings. Ask more about them and you will find them in this book. Properties of feelings is a manuscript that feels.”

Heaven's Enforcers

Author: Don Sealey
Publisher: First Edition Design Pub.
ISBN: 1506900801
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 86

Book Description
This story concerns Joe, a special ops man who dies and goes to Heaven. The book is an adventure story highlighting angel Joe's struggles against the forces of the devil. He and his friends travel throughout the universe freeing other angels who have been captured by the devils. The main emphasis of the book is to describe Heaven and to promote acceptance of being in Heaven as the result of a life lived according to God's laws. It is designed to make people think about life after death. Keywords: Salvation, Optimism, Special Forces, God, Joy, Happiness, Camaraderie, Selflessness, Love, Friendship, Peace, Family.