Transcript: Astrology, or the belief that objects in the sky can control or influence human affairs, has absolutely no scientific basis. It does however have a long and interesting history dating back thousands of years. The Babylonians used astrology 5 thousand years ago. High priests used secret astronomical knowledge to predict natural phenomena in the world for the people so as to stay in power. By the time of the Greeks and Romans, astrology was used by the rulers as a way of divining their future. In Roman time astrology extended to the masses for the first time. In preliterate cultures it’s natural to believe the mystical power of the sky, that objects beyond the Earth could have an influence on human affairs. In the Renaissance time astrology became wide spread throughout Europe. Several famous astronomers from the Renaissance period actually did astrology as a way of making money while they did their day jobs of astronomy. In the modern era astrology is discredited. It’s easy to do statistical experiments to show that there’s no basis for the belief that certain star signs influence human affairs or events or control personality. However you will notice that astrology persists to present day. Many journals and periodicals, even relatively serious ones, have astrology, star scopes, horoscopes, and star signs everyday. You might wonder why this persists in the everyday world when it has been discredited. Perhaps it’s some harmless belief that people need to have. However you should be clear of the distinction between astronomy, the scientific discussion of objects in the sky, and astrology, which is essentially a pseudoscience.