Theodor Landscheidt
Born 17:08 UT, 10th March 1927,
Bremen, Germany: 53N04, 8E49
Died 19th May 2004
Dr Landscheidt was an outstanding contributor to our understanding of astrology, a helio-physicist, climatologist and a very good friend. His correct prediction of climatic phenomena based on his dependable forecasts of sunspot activity, in turn based on solar cycles (confirmed by the Space Environment Center), include the end of the great Sahelian drought; the last five extrema in global temperature anomalies; the last three El Ninos; and extreme River Po discharges. Ted received many honors from the scientific community, being cited for "outstanding achievements in the field of Solar Cycle Research." He introduced us to the Galactic Center and the hypothetical planet TransPluto, for which he published an ephemeris, and published several books on astrology, including his Sun, Earth, Mars and Cosmic Cybernetics, which were invariably applauded but not always fully understood by his audience. His articles in Considerations were The Golden Section: a Cosmic Principle (X: I) and Theory & Practice of Geocentric Planetary Nodes (X: 4, reprinted in XVI: 2). The second of these appeared for several months on the Considerations web site but was withdrawn when a particularly irritating, publicity-seeking physicist questioned Ted's association with astrology. From that time all references were to his pseudonym, Felix Matoni—this is now being corrected. Shortly before his untimely death he was eagerly discussing by e-mail novel approaches that the relatively new mathematical concept of Wavelets suggested, and had become a strong advocate of the free R software package. The site www.iohn-daly.com contains many of his more recent papers. He will be greatly missed, not only for his astute intellect but also for his friendly, always well-mannered and cheerful personality.
Ken Gillman