Madam, - Following a recent series of articles that defended religion, Prof William Reville (Under the Microscope, May 5th) now dismisses astrology as pie in the sky, and I agree with him.
In his latest column, he suggests that, as most people know their star signs, they will unconsciously live up to their astrological personality types.
Given that my star sign is Libra, I must ask him one question in the interest of balance: from a scientific point of view, what is the difference between religion and astrology? - Yours, etc,
DAVE KAVANAGH, Burleigh Court, Dublin 4.
Madam, - In his interesting column on astrology Prof William Reville comes to the following conclusion:
"Astrology makes large claims that are extremely improbable from a scientific viewpoint. In order to take these claims seriously it would be necessary to have extraordinarily strong evidence. On the contrary, the evidence is very weak. In the absence of extraordinary evidence to support extraordinary claims, the only sensible course is to treat astrology as seriously as you would treat an amusing party game."
By substituting the word religion for the word astrology, one could come to the exact same conclusion. - Yours, etc,
ANTHONY SHERIDAN, Carraig Eoin, Cobh, Co Cork.