I think also that Holst's "The Planets" relates as much to the Greco-Roman gods for which the planets were named as it does to anything else.

Incidentally, I felt that Sobel's book "The Planets" was more about the history of science than it was about the science itself. And, like it or not, the roots of astronomy lie in astrology.

Having said that, I felt that the astrological bent of some passages in the book detracted from its overall tone. I found those bits far less interesting and far less engaging, because I feel that astrology has nothing to offer our modern, enlightened and informed world.

__________________
The quarrelsome oarsmen were rowing,
The great violinist was bowing;
But how is the sage
To tell, from the page:
Was it pigs or seeds that were sowing?