Introduction to this Review
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Where does the author stand? The author is an astronomer
and astrophysicist at Plymouth University in the UK. He has
had a number of other books published, and a distinguished
academic career. We will let him speak for himself on this
issue ...
"I am a scientist. As such I cannot propose or
understand a model of reality which does not take account of
scientific data. I am not an astrologer - in fact this
theory developed out of an examination of the arguments that
astrology cannot work! As a theoretical astrophysicist, with
an interest in the relationship between fundamental physics
and the large-scale structure of the universe, I am
searching, as are many others, for a model to explain the
current anomalies and paradoxes in these areas that are
beyond the domain of astrophysics (ie: biology, chemistry,
and to my amazement, astrology.)"
ISBN 0-572-02181-X represents an in-depth treatise
concerning the influence of the local cosmic environment (ie:
the sun and its solar system) on the environment of the
terrestrial realms, and explores a large number of
informational facets in the presentation of a history of the
development of the sciences (astronomy, physics, chemistry,
biology, geology, geophysics, solar physics, oceanography, etc)
all of which have common roots in man's ancient past and, as
the research of the current day is hinting, are inextricably
joined together in the face of an holistic cosmos.
Further research is begged by a number of claims and
theories presented by the author, and the author draws upon
many instances and phenomena in the biological kingdoms of
nature which relate to the inter-relationship of living beings
with the geomagnetic field, and its outlined sources of
fluctuation. The earth's magnetic field - in its extended
sense - has only been explored in the modern era of technology
and space flight.
The author refreshingly points out the fallibility of
modern (and ancient) scientific thought, in that the author
clearly understands that the subject matter of astrology is
more often dismissed out of hand by the average scientist, due
to a number of preconceptions, which the author outlines and
clarifies. On the other hand, the book is written by a
practicing scientist (astronomer; astrophysicist) and the
painstakingly step-by-step progress through the histories of
human thought in a number of disciplines is orderly and
comprehensive.
Popper and Einstein, Feynman and others all get quoted in
this book with references which are similar in nature, the
common theme being the ongoing quest of the scientific mind to
explain all incidents and events of the inexplicable.
"The game of science is, in principal, without end.
He who decides one day that scientific statements
do not call for further test,
and that they can be regarded as finally verified,
retires from the game."
-- Karl Popper
The only omission of note, from my perspective as a
gatherer of global traditions and threads, is the lack of any
reference to that culture which may have given rise to the
earliest of the astrological thoughts, that of the ancient
Veda of the land of the Indian Sun. Nonetheless, from my
perspective the subject matter of astrology has at last been
given a thorough review by an independently thinking
scientifically-versed thinker, and the publication (and the
author's earlier work) will probably be seen to be forward-scouts
of a generic scientific appreciation of more holistic (ie:
multi-environmental) views of a resonant structuring of the
cosmos.
In fact, it is the notion of resonance which is at the
heart of this author's presentation and structure of theories.
He uses the word as a keyword in a number of critical places,
and it is clear that the properties of resonant systems,
within resonant systems opens a very specific, yet very new
technical challenge for the future paths of research which
will spread from contact with this book, and the author's
theory and gathering of not-too-far-fetched hypotheses in the
matter of furthering the scientific basis of astrology.
The following section largely contains selected quotes and
what I have reacted to as important issues in this publication,
and it is hoped that all who read this article will be
enthused to take up the challenge of research and development
in this most ancient of the arts, and its current
manifestation in the age of information and technology.
PRF Brown
Mountain Man Graphics
Falls Creek,
New South Wales
Australia
Southern winter -- 2001
The Scientific Basis of Astrology
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Book Review
In the following section the author outlines
in simple terms a brief overview to a theory which he has
developed in order to explain all the data which he had at
hand at the time:
[P.263]
"It is now accepted by almost all scientists
that the sunspot cycle effects the magnetic field of Earth,
and the agency responsible for this effect, the solar wind,
has been detected. It is also beyond doubt that the moon
causes tides in the upper atmosphere which give rise to
electric currents, and these generate the lunar daily
magnetic variation. There is also plenty of evidence that
both the steady state as well as the fluctuating behavior of
the geomagnetic field can be used by organisms, including
man, for purposes of finding direction and keeping internal
body time. This much is all well documented, and widely
accepted.
There is evidence, largely ignored, that
positions and movements of planets as seen from the sun,
play a major role in the solar cycle. Furthermore, there is
some evidence - highly controversial but difficult to
dismiss - that some positions of the planets as seen from
Earth at time of birth and linked to personality
characteristics of individuals. [Gauquelin]
This evidence exists. What my theory does is
to prepare an interpretation, based on this evidence, which
can be scientifically tested. Very briefly the steps are:
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(1) Planets effect the solar cycle in
specific ways.
-
(2) The solar cycle effects the geomagnetic
field.
-
(3) The geomagnetic field affects life on
Earth in certain observed ways.
-
(4) Specifically, many species, including
man, can be influenced by particular states of the
geomagnetic field.
-
(5) The particular influences appear to
correlate with the planetary positions.
-
(6) I propose that the behavior of the fetus
at the time of birth is linked to the cycles within the
geomagnetic field, which in turn are influenced by the solar
cycle and positions of the planets. Resonance is the
phenomenon by which the fetus is phase locked to specific
cycles.
To put this in more specific terms, my
theory proposes that the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune control the direction of the convective motions
within the Sun, which generate the solar magnetic field.
They do so because they play the major role in moving the
sun about the common center of mass of the solar system. As
the solar cycle builds up to a maximum, so certain
configurations of all the planets, at different stages, play
a part in the disrupting the magnetic field of the sun, by
means of the tidal tug (due to gravitation) of the planets
on the hot gases in the Sun.
Thus the planets play a role in the
modulation of Earth's magnetic field by the solar wind. I am
also proposing that the tidal tug of the planets on the hot
gases trapped within our magnetosphere will, because of
resonance, lock some of the vibrations of the Earth's field
in step with the planetary movements. The resulting
fluctuations of Earth's field are picked up by the nervous
system of the fetus, which acts like an antenna, and these
synchronize the internal biological clocks of the fetus
which control the moment of birth. The tuning of the fetal
magnetic antenna is carried on by the genes which it
inherits, and these to some extent will determine its basic
genetically inherited personality characteristics. Thus the
positions of the planets at birth are not altering what we
have inherited genetically but are labeling our basic
inherited personality characteristics."
---- At the time of this specific
publication (1997), Dr. Percy Seymour was Principal Lecturer
in Astronomy at the University of Plymouth, where he taught
astronomy and astrophysics to undergraduates and carried out
research on magnetic fields in astronomy ...
Planetary Influence on the Sun ?
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It has occurred to me to present this small
section in the form of an FAQ, of Frequently Asked Questions,
although at this stage of the article these appears only to be
perhaps 2 or 3 questions. Nevertheless, here we go with the
first ... [P174-6]
Q1: How can the relatively small
planetary gravitation influence the dynamics of the sun and/or
its interior?
This is often one of the first obstacles
presented to any hypothesis leading towards any theory
related to the influence of planets on the sun. The sun is
huge and has a huge enate gravitational field, whereas the
planets are small, and those which are largest (ie: Jupiter,
Saturn, etc) are a reasonable distance away from the sun.
The answer to this question points directly
to the existent tidal activity on the Earth's oceans. The
tidal pull of due to the gravitational attraction of the
moon and the sun on the waters of the Earth is far weaker
than Earth's own gravitational tug by a factor of about ten
million. Yet, twice a day, all over the Earth, this
relatively weak gravitational pull from the sun and moon is
moving billions of tons of water to and fro ...[...]... The
gravitational tug of the sun and moon can have such an
effect because of a phenomena called resonance.
Q2: How can the gravitational influence of planets, when
pulling at right-angles to each other, be additive?
Explanation of this references a tidal
theory worked out by the astronomer royal George Biddell
Airy in 1845. In fact Airy's theory overcomes both
criticisms in a very natural way, since it is what one would
expect near resonance, and it allows us to understand how
such a resonance can exist beneath the surface of the sun.
Airy worked out a rigorous mathematical
theory which shows that it is possible to build a water
canal around the Earth, parallel to the equator, in which
the spring tides would occur at first and last quarter,
rather than at full and new moon. This corresponds to ninety
degree positions of the sun and moon as seen from the earth.
Such a canal would also greatly amplify the rather weak
tides associated with the open ocean ...[...]...
How are these results applicable to the
Sun? It is well known from the observation of sunspots
that magnetic structures which resemble canals parallel to
the sun's equator exist on the sun in the buildup to the
maximum sunspot activity. Such canals can greatly amplify
the weak tidal forces of the planets on the sun, because
they are able to channel very hot gases of the Sun parallel
to the solar equator. The present theory of solar activity
also tells us that the strength of this field increases
towards solar maximum - when the number of sunspots on the
sun reach a maximum. This strength will effect the speed
with which a magnetic wave will travel along a magnetic
canal. The speeds with which planets travel with respect to
the material on the spinning surface of the sun vary from
one planet to the next. This means that as the speed of a
free wave in the magnetic canal increases with the
increasing strength of the field, it will equal the speed of
the tidal wave of each of the planets in turn, starting with
Mercury. In other words, the magnetic free wave and the
tidal wave of Mercury will, at some stage of the solar cycle,
be in tune with each other. When this happens, Mercury's
tidal influence on the magnetic canal will be considerably
increased and it will cause a disruption of the canal. The
canal will then rise to the surface, causing a solar
prominence and a sunspot pair where this loop crosses the
sun's surface.
[...]
My theory thus proposes that we apply Airy's
canal theory of the tides to the magnetic tubes of force
that exist beneath the surface of the sun in the build up to
solar maximum. These tubes of magnetic lines of force
resemble canals that are parallel to the solar equator, and
thus it appears to use canal theory.
Just as the magnetic field of the Earth is
generated by little convective eddy currents in the outer
mantle, so the magnetic field of the sun is generated by
eddy currents in the convective zone of the Sun. I am
further proposing that the change in direction of the eddies
near the poles of the sun, sometime before the start of the
next cycle, is triggered by the movement of the sun about
the common center of mass of the solar system. The
movement is controlled by the orbiting of the outer planets:
Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. These planets move the
sun through a total distance of twice its own diameter (ie:
just under 2 million miles) roughly every ten and a half
years.
Michel Gauquelin (1928-1991)
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In this book, Dr. Percy Seymour reserves a
number of references to the work of Michel Gauquelin, a
psychologist and statistician, who was internationally known
for his pioneering research on the relationship between
planetary positions at birth and human behavior. Gauquelin
published a number of books in his time, among them a book
entitled "Cosmic Influences on Human Behaviour", Futura,
London, 1976. In an afterword for this pioneer, Seymour
writes the following:
"Battling with heroic courage and
tenacity against the immense scientific prejudice and
hostility of his colleagues in the scientific community, he
was able to conclusively demonstrate, through repeated and
stringently controlled experiments, that, as the ancients
had believed, outstanding individuals in different
professions tend to be born at times when appropriate
planets were close to the horizon or the meridian.
He was able to show that top military men,
athletes, and entrepreneurs tend to be born "under Mars",
while scientists favor Saturn, poets and politicians favor
the Moon, and actors Jupiter. He was able to show that the
more outstanding the individual the more likely appropriate
planets would be prominent. He went on to demonstrate that,
in the case of natural births, children tend to be born with
the same planets prominent in the sky at birth as their
parents."
Elsewhere, the author makes the comment that
Gauquelin found no evidence in favor of the standard Sun-sign
astrology during his research. Also, there is mentioned the
fact that much of the criticism levelled towards Gauquelin was
motivated by the fact that the critics could not conceive of a
mechanism by which Gauquelin's results could be understood.
It would appear that the author was quite
impressed with the data presented by Gauquelin's research, and
although the data is surprising to the traditional scientific
viewpoint, it nevertheless exists, and thus needs to be
explained. Where others would "have it go away", Dr Seymour at
least confronts the evidence head on, and puts forward
convincing arguments as to why it is this way, and not another.
Elsewhere, Seymour quotes:
" ... a major weakness in our approach as
scientists: a collective unwillingness to welcome new or
anamolous results. We dont want to lose sight of the
fundamental fact that the most important experimental
results are precisely those that do not have a theoretical
interpretation; the least important are often those that
confirm theory to many significant figures."
--- Professor Philip Anderson, Physics
Today. (Reference Frame - September 1990)
To conclude this review, it might be helpful to reiterate that
one of the key concepts presented in Dr. Seymour's book is the
phenomenom known as resonance. The characteristics of
resonant systems within resonant systems are only now
beginning to be explored and researched. The mechanism of the
selective "tuning-in" to various frequencies involves
the establishment of resonant sessions such as that which
occur in the standard radio antenna for frequencies in the
radio-wave spectrum.
The physiology of our bodies as human beings
includes our neurology, which has clearly been established to
operate via electric current generation. As such, the
generation of corresponding magnetic fields is also in
progress within this disapative structure known as the body.
Comprehensive citations of literature concerning the detection
of the geomagnetic field by animals, birds, fish, plants would
indicate that man may also possess such capabilities, in his
genetic record. Dr. Seymour draws our attention to the fact
that the 11 year solar cycle corresponds to specific
configurations of the planets, and that the solar wind
directly influences the geomagetic field. Other cycles in the
geomagetic field are brought about by the tidal influence of
the moon on the upper atmosphere.
When the concept of resonance is discussed, in
many cases examples are provided with very small frequencies (ie:
cycles), such as those to do with electromagnetic energy in
various frequencies, or indeed with sound waves. Readers are
invited to exercise their imagination and understanding in
order to determine the nature of resonant systems which are
based on cycles which are in the order of the tidal (6H 14M),
the diurnal (24 H), the lunar cycles of 28-9 days, the seasons
of quarter years, the annual cycles, and still greater cycles
from the sunspot/solar cycles of 11 years through to the great
geological cycles which may reflect the journey of the (earth/moon)/sun
system about the Milky Way galaxy, of 200 million years (or so).
Dr. Percy Seymour, Astronomer and
Astrophysicist, demonstrates that there are indeed some
scientists out there who do not subscribe to any form of
rampant skepticism when confronted with the leading keyword of
Astrology. A healthy skepticism is warranted however in
most matters, and the author uses a collection of quotes from
immanent scientists, and from the philosophy of science, to
assure us that he still has his feet firmly on the ground.
I wish him the very best in his future
research and develoment, and congratulate him on the calibre
and theme of this publication " A Scientific Basis of
Astrology".
Ýstanbul
-25.05.2004
http://sufizmveinsan.com
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