Astrology does not have scientific base: Dr Narlikar

Eminent astrophysicist Dr Jayant Narlikar said that Phal-Jyotish (astrology) does not have any scientific base.

“People should first test the credibility of the predictions made by the astrologers by using the yardstick of statistics and scientific approach,” said Narlikar. He was speaking at the symposium on Experimental Test with Astrology’ at College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) on Wednesday. The event was organised by ‘Eyes on Ison’, a nationwide campaign to track comets.

He said that matching horoscopes by astrologers and the predictions made by them is not accurate and hence people should not depend on them.

“I was close to Dr Narendra Dabholkar, who was spearheading the anti-superstition movement, Along with him, we exposed several astrologers by conducting scientific experiments,” said Narlikar.

Speaking about one such experiment, he said that he, along with Dabholkar and two more associates, collected 100 horoscopes of some scholar students and 100 of some mentally retarded students and gave it to some astrologers. However, the predictions given by them were contradictory. “Astrologers were not found during the Vedic age. They were a part of Alexander’s contingent and stayed back after he invaded India,” he added.