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The Gauquelin work
1. A concise history with photographs

Geoffrey Dean

The universe is fantastic, don't you realize that?
Michel Gauquelin Planetary Heredity 1988:51

Abstract -- Until his untimely death in May 1991, Michel Gauquelin (b.1928) was the world's most formidable scientific researcher into astrology, where his studies rank among the best ever conducted. Much of his success was due to Francoise (1929=2007), his Swiss-born wife and co-worker until 1985. His early fascination with astrology led to 45 years of research that resulted in a dozen popular books (many translated into several languages), 30 data books, and about 150 scientific articles. He used rigorous methods and large samples of hundreds or thousands of cases. Tests of signs, aspects, transits, and astrologers were negative. Tests of planetary positions with respect to the horizon were positive but only for eminent professionals and only for the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The effect sizes were tiny (typically around 0.04 when expressed as a correlation) and of no practical use. Tests of planetary links between parents and children seemed positive but the effect size was even tinier (barely 0.02) and later seemed to disappear, leaving their existence in doubt. The planetary effect was later called the Mars effect because Mars (the planet linked to sports champions) was then the focus of attention. But depending on the occupation (there were nine others) it could have been called the Moon, Venus, Jupiter or Saturn effect. There was no effect for the Sun, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto, or for ordinary people such as those who visit astrologers. Planetary effects among eminent professionals have so far replicated across a total of 34 out of 35 studies, of which 8 are by independent researchers. Gauquelin's negative results upset astrologers, who found them hard to explain, and his positive results upset skeptics, who found them equally hard to explain. The outcome was 45 years of attack from both sides and a legacy of baffling puzzles for both astrology and science. Includes the Gauquelins' own account of how it all started, a non-technical account of his approach and results including negative results, a bibliography of main works, and nine historic photographs. Part 2 (a separate article) takes up the crucial topics of artifacts and how the baffling puzzles might be explained.