- Email: [email protected]
Astrology. Science or superstition?
PW.W~. indwid. Dill. Vol. 4. No. 5. pp. 575-580. 1983 Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK
H. J. EYSENCKand D. K. B. NIAS: Astrology.
REVIEWS
Science or Superstition?
Temple Smith, London (1982) 244 pp.
There can be little doubt that there is a great deal of interest in astrology amongst the general public. Early in the last decade it was estimated that the national investment in astrology in the U.S.A. was between ten and twenty times that in astronomy and between 1969 and 1977 the number of paperback books on astrology which were in print increased tenfold. Furthermore, surveys have shown that in the Western world up to 60% of the population believe that there is some truth in astrology. Despite this widespread interest and belief, scientists have generally not bothered to scientifically assess the claims of astrologers. Instead they have tended either to ignore astrology or to simply condemn it as superstitious nonsense. Such prejudice has not been demonstrated by Eysenck and Nias in their book Astrology. Science or Superstition? As they point out the assertions of astrology can be, and have been, tested empirically. Thus they consider that in order to draw conclusions about the validity of astrology, it is necessary to take an unbiased, but critical, look at the evidence and this is what they attempt to do. The book is aimed essentially at the intelligent layman who does not necessarily have much background knowledge on the subject. Thus the book starts with a brief look at the origins of astrology and its principles, and a simple discussion on scientific method and statistics. The authors then go on to evaluate the evidence on traditional astrological beliefs such as sun-signs and personality and the position of the planets and personal destinies. This in turn is followed by a section on cosmobiology which the authors define as the study of “the ways in which vegetable, animal and human life is influenced by bodies in the solar system other than our own earth” (p.x). Included in this section are discussions on topics such as season of birth, circadian rhythms, sunspots and the weather, weather and behaviour, planetary forces and radio reception, moon phases and behaviour and the work of the Gauquelins. The link between many of these topics and astrology is tenuous but astrologers often cite the findings of studies in these areas as support for their general approach, even though these findings are frequently contrary to the predictions of traditional astrology. In the final chapter of the book, the authors sum up the evidence and give the verdict on whether astrology is a science or a superstition. This book is well organized and clearly written; the simple but accurate discussions of statistical considerations and methods being particularly noteworthy; another noteworthy feature of the book is the objectivity and open-mindedness with which the authors approach the topic. Such lack of bias is rare in books such as this one. The only serious criticism which can be levelled against this book is that when describing previously unpublished experiments which they have carried out, the authors do not give sufficient information to enable anyone else to assess their results. This is rather ironic as they are critical of other studies where this has been the case. Another minor criticism relates to the format of the book. The tables and figures are not labelled nor clearly offset from the text which is a little confusing and often irritating. Overall, however, this is an excellent book which can be recommended, without hesitation, not only to interested laymen but also to academics and scientists. G. A. TYSON
V. WEISS:Psychogenetik.
Humangenetik
in Psychologie
und Psychiatric.
Fischer, Jena, D.D.R. (1900) 168 pp.
This is Volume 12 of a series dealing with genetics, and its topic is what usually in Germany is called “Humangenetik”, but which Weiss prefers to call “Psychogenetik”. The interest of the book derives in part from the fact that it was published in the D.D.R., i.e. the Communist, Eastern part of Germany; anyone who believes the rantings of Professor Kamin would imagine that here we would find a completely environmentalistic denial of any genetic effects on intelligence. Readers w.ill find nothing of the kind, but rather a careful, academic and experimental-oriented discussion of theories and facts which lead to conclusions very similar to those psychologists in non-Communist countries have come to. This should not really be surprising, as Marx and Lenin explicitly separated out social equality, which they aimed at, from biological equality, which they did not believe existed. On this point, then, Marxist and non-Marxist psychologists and geneticists can agree. Indeed, some of Weiss”s evidence comes from recent Russian work, where for instance a study of MZ and DZ twins in Moscow led to the postulation of a heritability for intelligence of 78x! Content-wise the book is slanted in the biological direction, emphasizing the biochemical bases of psychic processes. The genetic formulae are developed in a reasonable fashion, but there are notable omissions, particularly there is no mention of path analysis, which in recent years has become widely adopted in the U.S.A., for instance. Similarly, there is no mention of the work of Jinks and Fulker, and altogether the novel approaches of the biometrical genetical school are not given the emphasis they may deserve. Substantively, readers will note the absence of any mention of the genetics of personality development, on which there is now a great deal of evidence; this surely must be a vital part of “psychogenetik”! Most of the substantive discussion is devoted to intelligence, where admittedly we have more evidence than perhaps on any other aspect of psychology; nevertheless, this should not lead to the omission of important areas where evidence is now pretty conclusive. On occasion one may take issue with Weiss. Thus in dealing with the fact that there is a decline in the intelligence of later-born children, as compared with the first-born etc., he fails to mention Zajonc’s theory, which has received substantial support. In dealing with regression to the mean, he makes the relevant point that one must distinguish statistical regression from genetic regression, but he makes epistasis responsible for the latter, rather than the particular allele combinations which 575
BOOK
H. J. EYSENCKand D. K. B. NIAS: Astrology.
REVIEWS
Science or Superstition?
Temple Smith, London (1982) 244 pp.
There can be little doubt that there is a great deal of interest in astrology amongst the general public. Early in the last decade it was estimated that the national investment in astrology in the U.S.A. was between ten and twenty times that in astronomy and between 1969 and 1977 the number of paperback books on astrology which were in print increased tenfold. Furthermore, surveys have shown that in the Western world up to 60% of the population believe that there is some truth in astrology. Despite this widespread interest and belief, scientists have generally not bothered to scientifically assess the claims of astrologers. Instead they have tended either to ignore astrology or to simply condemn it as superstitious nonsense. Such prejudice has not been demonstrated by Eysenck and Nias in their book Astrology. Science or Superstition? As they point out the assertions of astrology can be, and have been, tested empirically. Thus they consider that in order to draw conclusions about the validity of astrology, it is necessary to take an unbiased, but critical, look at the evidence and this is what they attempt to do. The book is aimed essentially at the intelligent layman who does not necessarily have much background knowledge on the subject. Thus the book starts with a brief look at the origins of astrology and its principles, and a simple discussion on scientific method and statistics. The authors then go on to evaluate the evidence on traditional astrological beliefs such as sun-signs and personality and the position of the planets and personal destinies. This in turn is followed by a section on cosmobiology which the authors define as the study of “the ways in which vegetable, animal and human life is influenced by bodies in the solar system other than our own earth” (p.x). Included in this section are discussions on topics such as season of birth, circadian rhythms, sunspots and the weather, weather and behaviour, planetary forces and radio reception, moon phases and behaviour and the work of the Gauquelins. The link between many of these topics and astrology is tenuous but astrologers often cite the findings of studies in these areas as support for their general approach, even though these findings are frequently contrary to the predictions of traditional astrology. In the final chapter of the book, the authors sum up the evidence and give the verdict on whether astrology is a science or a superstition. This book is well organized and clearly written; the simple but accurate discussions of statistical considerations and methods being particularly noteworthy; another noteworthy feature of the book is the objectivity and open-mindedness with which the authors approach the topic. Such lack of bias is rare in books such as this one. The only serious criticism which can be levelled against this book is that when describing previously unpublished experiments which they have carried out, the authors do not give sufficient information to enable anyone else to assess their results. This is rather ironic as they are critical of other studies where this has been the case. Another minor criticism relates to the format of the book. The tables and figures are not labelled nor clearly offset from the text which is a little confusing and often irritating. Overall, however, this is an excellent book which can be recommended, without hesitation, not only to interested laymen but also to academics and scientists. G. A. TYSON
V. WEISS:Psychogenetik.
Humangenetik
in Psychologie
und Psychiatric.
Fischer, Jena, D.D.R. (1900) 168 pp.
This is Volume 12 of a series dealing with genetics, and its topic is what usually in Germany is called “Humangenetik”, but which Weiss prefers to call “Psychogenetik”. The interest of the book derives in part from the fact that it was published in the D.D.R., i.e. the Communist, Eastern part of Germany; anyone who believes the rantings of Professor Kamin would imagine that here we would find a completely environmentalistic denial of any genetic effects on intelligence. Readers w.ill find nothing of the kind, but rather a careful, academic and experimental-oriented discussion of theories and facts which lead to conclusions very similar to those psychologists in non-Communist countries have come to. This should not really be surprising, as Marx and Lenin explicitly separated out social equality, which they aimed at, from biological equality, which they did not believe existed. On this point, then, Marxist and non-Marxist psychologists and geneticists can agree. Indeed, some of Weiss”s evidence comes from recent Russian work, where for instance a study of MZ and DZ twins in Moscow led to the postulation of a heritability for intelligence of 78x! Content-wise the book is slanted in the biological direction, emphasizing the biochemical bases of psychic processes. The genetic formulae are developed in a reasonable fashion, but there are notable omissions, particularly there is no mention of path analysis, which in recent years has become widely adopted in the U.S.A., for instance. Similarly, there is no mention of the work of Jinks and Fulker, and altogether the novel approaches of the biometrical genetical school are not given the emphasis they may deserve. Substantively, readers will note the absence of any mention of the genetics of personality development, on which there is now a great deal of evidence; this surely must be a vital part of “psychogenetik”! Most of the substantive discussion is devoted to intelligence, where admittedly we have more evidence than perhaps on any other aspect of psychology; nevertheless, this should not lead to the omission of important areas where evidence is now pretty conclusive. On occasion one may take issue with Weiss. Thus in dealing with the fact that there is a decline in the intelligence of later-born children, as compared with the first-born etc., he fails to mention Zajonc’s theory, which has received substantial support. In dealing with regression to the mean, he makes the relevant point that one must distinguish statistical regression from genetic regression, but he makes epistasis responsible for the latter, rather than the particular allele combinations which 575