Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Society & Social Sciences

A SCHEME OF HEAVEN

Alexander Boxer

The History of Astrology and the Quest to Find our Destiny in Data

An illuminating look at the surprising history and science of astrology, civilization's first system of algorithms, from Babylon to the present day.

Whether you love astrology or are skeptical of it, there is one undeniable fact: its story is enthralling. Since at least 450 BC, humans have looked to the sky to find the secrets to life.

Humans are pattern-matching creatures, and astrology is our 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 grand data-analysis enterprise sustained by some of history's most brilliant minds from Ptolemy to al-Kindi to Kepler.

A "scheme of heaven," or horoscope, is recognized as pseudoscience today, but was once considered a cutting-edge scientific tool. Not only does Boxer trace different applications of horoscopes back to their origins, he also puts them to the test using modern data sets and statistical science, arguing that today's data scientists do work similar to astrologers of yore. 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.

Alexander Boxer has a doctorate in physics from MIT, a master's degree in the history of science from Oxford and a bachelors in classical language from Yale. His technical research has appeared in journals such as Nature Physics, and he has been awarded history of science fellowships from the Huntington Library and Tel-Aviv University. He currently works as a senior scientist at a small technology company just outside of Washington,DC. He has previously served as a technical advisor to the Director of Operational Testing in the Department of Defense. In his spare time, he is anactive member of Atlas Obscura as a D.C.-based "field agent."

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Book Published 2020-01-14 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. - New York (USA)
Book Published 2020-01-14 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. - New York (USA)

Comments

A fresh and original introduction to astrology's long history and deep cultural reach. Open and inquisitive, Boxer combines the critical perspective of a modern data scientist with a historian's sympathetic eye for telling detail. The result is a vivid and unique delight.

Educated in both the humanities and the sciences, Boxer is uniquely qualified to guide his readers into a fascinating story of mathematical complexity. The overarching theme of our human destiny is inspirational.

A delightful and utterly fascinating work of intellectual history.

A Scheme of Heaven is a masterful synthesis - science, history, legends, literature, and an eye-opening exploration of the human penchant for pattern recognition. The book is full of wit and refreshing insight. I'll never look at a horoscope - or the night sky - in quite the same way again.

Through striking diagrams and accessible explanations, Boxer shows us the impressive range of technology the ancients developed for tapping into astrology's predictive powers. This book demonstrates how impactful astrology is in everyday life - not through the influence of the stars, but rather through the deep scientific and cultural legacy that it so richly explores.

Boxer is a champion of intrepid thought. His learned book demonstrates how much we stand to gain by studying topics that just may be a little bit true. And a little truth, as Boxer shows, can change everything.

Astrologers as the first and most ambitious quants and data scientists? Alexander Boxer's remarkable book reveals astrology's mathematical, scientific, historical, philosophical, and literary roots. He shows that astrology is not only an indispensable part of science history, but also springs from the same mixture of motives: the desire to control the world and to wonder about it.