ad Astra

In this episode we talk with Teri Gee, professor of Physics at Brigham Young University. Her PhD dissertation, “Strategies of Defending Astrology: A Continuing Tradition”, addresses the arguments used for defending the practice of astrology from the classical to the late medieval periods in the Greek, Arabic and Latin contexts. In this very lively podcast we discuss her research and her current research on different perceptions of the cosmos throughout history.

Terri Gee’s dissertation is available at the: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/34009

In this podcast we talk with researcher Márton Veszprémy about his research on the practice of astrology in East-Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Márton is currently developing his PhD on this topic at the Eötvös Loránd University, and shares with us some aspects of his research.

For more details on Márton Veszprémy’s work, see: https://elte.academia.edu/MártonVeszprémy

In this podcast we talk with Klaus Herbers, Professor of Medieval History at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität. He is also the First Deputy Director of the IKGF – International Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication”, a partner institution of the Astra Project. Our conversation addresses the Professor’s study on the medieval world and prognostication. In this regard we discuss the new publication Prognostication in the Medieval World: a Handbook which provides a transcultural overview of current historical research on medieval prognostication.

For more information on Klaus Herbers work see: https://www.geschichte.phil.fau.de/person/herbers-klaus/#sprungmarke3

Details on the book, Prognostication in the Medieval World: a Handbook, can be accessed here: https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/522832?tab_body=overview

Kocku von Stuckrad is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Groningen and is co-founder and co-director of the research center Counterpoint: Navigating Knowledge.

To know more about his work, see: https://www.kockuvonstuckrad.com

The Counterpoint project can be found at: https://www.counterpointknowledge.org/

He has written many papers and books on the history of astrology, among which:

– With Günther Oestmann and H. Darrel Rutkin: Horoscopes and Public Spheres: Essays on the History of Astrology (Religion and Society 42). Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter 2005.

– Geschichte der Astrologie: Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Munich: C. H. Beck, 2003. 413 pp. New, revised edition 2007 (translated into Spanish, Portuguese and Italian)

– Die Seele im 20. Jahrhundert: Eine Kulturgeschichte. Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink 2019. XI, 279 pp. Currently being translated as: The Soul in the Twentieth Century: Insights in Psychology, Science, Nature, Philosophy, Spirituality, and Politics from Europe and America (working title). New York: Columbia University Press (forthcoming fall 2020).

In this podcast we talk once more with researcher Petra Schmidl on her research on a thirteenth-century manuscript from Yemen. We talk on the constellation of practical or useful knowledges contained in this type of work, which range from the religious, to the geographical, and the astronomical and astrological material.

For details on the project and more information about her work, see: https://tabsira.hypotheses.org

In this episode we talk with Laura Ackerman Smoller, a reference name in the history of astrology with her book History, Prophecy, and the Stars: The Christian Astrology of Pierre d’Ailly, 1350-1420. She is currently professor of History at the University of Rochester, New York. We address her research into prophecy in the Middle Ages and the role of astrology in this type of narrative.

To know more on Professor Smoller’s work see: https://rochester.academia.edu/LauraSmoller

History, Prophecy, and the Stars: The Christian Astrology of Pierre d’Ailly, 1350-1420 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994) – https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691654317/history-prophecy-and-the-stars

In this episode we talk with Ovanes Akopyan, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Innsbruck. He has recently published the book with his PhD research: Debating the Stars in the Italian Renaissance. Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola’s Disputationes Adversus Astrologiam Divinatricem and Its Reception (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2020). In the podcast we discuss his research into the role of Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola in the anti-astrological debate as well as other aspects of early modern history of science.

For more information on Ovanes Akopyan’s work, see: https://uibk.academia.edu/OvanesAkopyan

For his book see: https://brill.com/view/title/36397

In this episode we talk once more with researcher H Darrel Rutkin on one of the most, if not the most, relevant figures of early modern anti-astrological discourse: Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola (24 February 1463–17 November 1494). Published posthumously in 1496 his Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Arguments Against Judicial Astrology) had a tremendous impact on astrological practice. Pico has been studied by several researchers, among them Darrel, who addressed his work and impact in this PhD thesis and in other publications. In this podcast we discuss some details of Giovanni Pico’s work and life.

For an overview of H Darrel Rutkin’s work see: https://unive.academia.edu/HDarrelRutkin

Our previous podcast with Darrel is available at: https://youtu.be/bwLMLYGWky8

See also:

Early Modern Cosmology: Institutions and Metaphysics – https://www.unive.it/pag/35129/

Sapientia Astrologica: Astrology, Magic and Natural Knowledge, ca. 1250-1800, Vol. 1 (Springer, 2019) – https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030107789

In this episode we talk with researcher Maria Sorokina about her work on the medieval theological debates on astrology. Her PhD, “Les théologiens face à la question de l’influence céleste. Science et foi dans les commentaires des Sentences (v. 1220-v. 1340)”, studies the how astrology is dealt in the commentaries to the Sentences of Peter Lombard. This is a continuation of her MA research on these type debates in the “Summa de astris” of Gérard de Feltre.

Maria’s research will be published soon in Les sphères, les astres et les théologiens L’influence céleste entre science et foi dans les commentaires des Sentences (v. 1220-v. 1340) (Brepols, 2020): http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503590868-1

For more information on her work see: https://kuleuven.academia.edu/MariaSorokina

“Each time there is a transmission there is a transformation.” — David Pingree

This episode of In Memoriam addresses a monumental figure in the history of astrology, David Edwin Pingree (2 January 1933 – 11 November 2005). Today, on the anniversary of his departure, we have the honour of talking to four eminent scholars: Charles Burnett (The Warburg Institute, University of London), Alexander Jones (New York University), Kim Plofker (Union College), and Stephan Heilen (University of Osnabrück). They share their experience of working and learning with David Pingree, as well as the importance of his work, revealing both the man and the scholar.

In the words of Charles Burnett: “It is impossible to classify him as Sanskritist, a scholar of the culture of the Near East, or a Greek or Latin specialist. He was all of these, and much more. His merit was to see the whole canvas of the history of the science of the stars, spread out from the Western shores of Europe to the Eastern shores of India, and extending from the very beginnings of man’s interest in the stars to the early modern era. The story consisted of many episodes, and featured many characters, who spoke in several different languages, but in the end it was one story, and only David was able to tell it.” – Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol. 152, No. 2, June 2008, pp. 256-259.

On David Pingree’s work and life, see:

– https://wilbourhall.org/pdfs/pingree%20(2).pdf

– https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/524228