Michel Gauquelin

Michel Gauquelin (1928-1991) was a French psychologist and statistician who, along with his wife Francoise, conducted serious statistical research into astrology.

Gauquelin showed an interest in astrology from an early age; it is said that he could calculate a birth chart at the age of ten and earned the nickname of Nostradamus at school because of his astrological readings. After his scientific education at the Sorbonne, where he graduated in psychology, he devoted much of his life to researching the scientific validity of astrology.

He conducted many statistical tests; one example is what he called the "test of opposed destinies" which entailed astrologers being asked to separate the birth charts of twenty well-known criminals from twenty non-criminals. They did no better than chance. (The Cosmic Clocks)

His own conclusions were unambiguous:

• "It is now quite certain that the signs in the sky which presided over our births have no power whatever to decide our fates, to affect our hereditary characteristics, or to play any part, however humble, in the totality of effects, random or otherwise, which form the fabric of our lives and mold our impulses to action." (The Scientific Basis for Astrology)

Despite this, he is often cited by astrologers as having provided evidence in favour of astrology. This is mainly due to the controversial Mars effect, which if true would provide evidence for astrological influences (ie positions of heavenly bodies can affect human destiny), although it should be noted that the Mars effect is unknown within astrology (ie prior to the statistical finding, no astrologer had ever used such an effect or even suspected that such an effect existed).

Away from astrology, Michel Gauquelin was an accomplished tennis player, ranking within the top 50 in France.

References

• Michel Gauquelin The Scientific Basis for Astrology. Stein and Day Publishers. New York, 1969. Paperback version: Natl Book Network, 1970 ISBN 0812813502.
• Michel Gauquelin The Cosmic Clocks. Henry Regenery Company, Chicago, 1967. Paperback version: Grafton Books, 1998 ISBN 0586081585.

External Links

• The full text of The Cosmic Clocks is available online at: http://www.astrologer.ru/rarebooks.html.en (in DjVU format - requires plug-in from http://www.djvu.com )