Robert Hand was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, and grew up in Orleans, Massachusetts.

He then went on to Princeton University and left before receiving a degree to pursue astrology as a full-time profession in 1972.

[1] He began writing programs for microcomputers in 1977 with a desire to bring the benefits of fast and accurate calculations to the practice of astrology.

Some of this material has been integrated into the Robert Hand Library, which now houses the original texts and translations of most of the ancient and medieval astrologers, as well as the history of science, philosophy and mystical Judaism.

Hand gives chart readings and consultations in Reston, Virginia, and Las Vegas, Nevada.