Description
Book SynopsisHistorically, the idea that the stars and planets influence the Earth and its inhabitants has proved powerful in almost every culture, offering an important context for the use of mathematical and astronomical instruments. In the past, however, historians of astronomy have paid relatively little attention to astrology and other “non-scientific” topics, while historians of astrology have tended to concentrate on the analysis of texts rather than surviving artefacts, scientific instruments in particular. Heaven and Earth United is an attempt to redress the balance through an exploration of the astrological contexts in which instruments once found a place. Contributors are Silke Ackermann, Marisa Addomine, Jim Bennett, Marvin Bolt, Louise E. Devoy, Richard Dunn, Seb Falk, Stephen Johnston, Richard L. Kremer, Günther Oestmann, Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Petra G. Schmidl, Giorgio Strano, and Sylvia Sumira.
Table of ContentsList ofFigures and Tables Contributors Introduction 1 Using Astrolabes for Astrological Purposes: The Earliest Evidence Revisited Petra G. Schmidl 2 What’s on the Back of an Astrolabe? Astrolabes as Supports for Planetary Calculators Seb Falk 3 Medical and Astrological Plates: Their Roles in Medieval and Renaissance Knowledge Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas 4 “Preciseness and Pleasure”: The Astrological Diptychs of Thomas Hood Stephen Johnston 5 Displaying Astrological Knowledge through Tabulation: Some Notes Pertaining to Particular Arrangement on Instruments Günther Oestmann 6 Astrological Aspectaria on Early Modern Instruments Louise E. Devoy 7 Italian Astronomical Clocks as Public Astrological Machines Marisa Addomine 8 Astrological Time in Public Space: The Görlitz Arachne (1550) and Planetary Hours Richard L. Kremer 9 The Heavens at the Medici Court: Antonio Santucci’s Cosmological Models Giorgio Strano 10 Were Globes Used in the Practice of Early Modern Astrology? Jim Bennett and Sylvia Sumira 11 Instruments and the Astrologer’s Image Richard Dunn* 12 Defining Scientific Instruments in Astrological Practice: A Response Marvin Bolt Glossary 263 Richard Dunn General Index 277
