A History of Western Astrology ...

Rating:
Summary: Not a sympathetic history
Review: I am writing about this book because one reviewer below indicated that this is a sympathetic history of astrology. I am not sure what is meant by "sympathetic" but I would imagine that the reviewer means that the author "believes" in astrology, and I can't conceive that anyone reading this book would come away with that impression. Indeed, one of the central points (at least deeply implied) is that a knowledge of the history of astrology makes a believe in its validity utterly impossible. Western Astrology developed out of a world view born in Hellenism and perfected in the Middle Ages. That world view was profoundly Aristelian and depended entirely on Greek and Roman science and physics for its validity. Once that world view collapsed (e.g., the belief in the four elements and all that that implied for astronomy, physics, medicine, and psychology, and by derivation for astrology), the "science" of astrology was destroyed. Tester did not bring the story into the 19th and 20th centuries, which astrology was no longer in any sense scientific, but part of the greater Counter Enlightenment.

What Tester was doing in this book when he died was telling the story of astrology when it was possible to believe in it. But he clearly did not believe that this was any longer possible to do so. He chronicles the history of astrology when it had scientific pretensions in the West, not the period of time in which it had become irrational mysticism.

Rating:
Summary: Scholars only
Review: I believe that a good history book should be more than even brilliant scholarship. It should be interesting. It should tantalize the reader to go deeper into the subject. It should convey to the reader the author's love of the subject... why the book is worth the reader's valuable time (and money). Scholarly and readable are not contradictory terms.

If you share this belief, then avoid Mr. Tester's book. I'm sure the scholarship is fine (just like your high school history text). But this book isn't fun; this book isn't interesting, it's a bore. The erudite Mr. Tester shows no emotion, wit or enthusiasm in this numbing display of pedantry.

My guess is that Mr. Tester was from the "no pain, no gain" school of education: learning isn't meant to be easy. One can struggle through a chapter, have dinner, and completely forget what one has just read...I mean completely! It's really amazing how one can take a topic as intrinsically interesting as astrology and turn it into lifeless trivia.

Rating:
Summary: Just the Facts!
Review: Tester's book is wonderful for learning the facts of astrology and how and why it began. He offers factual information on how it has advanced from the ancient days to what it is now.
It's not so much a learning tool for learning astrology but a great book for anyone wanting to learn more about astrology's history.