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However, it may well be that the formation of clouds in that upper region is
also prevented by the circular motion. For the air round the earth is
necessarily all of it in motion, except that which is cut off inside the
circumference which makes the earth a complete sphere. In the case of winds
it is actually observable that they originate in marshy districts of the earth;
and they do not seem to blow above the level of the highest mountains. It is
the revolution of the heaven which carries the air with it and causes its
circular motion, fire being continuous with the upper element and air with
fire. Thus its motion is a second reason why that air is not condensed into
water.
But whenever a particle of air grows heavy, the warmth in it is squeezed
out into the upper region and it sinks, and other particles in turn are carried up
together with the fiery exhalation. Thus the one region is always full of air
and the other of fire, and each of them is perpetually in a state of change.
So much to explain why clouds are not formed and why the air is not
condensed into water, and what account must be given of the space between
the stars and the earth, and what is the body that fills it.
As for the heat derived from the sun, the right place for a special and
scientific account of it is in the treatise about sense, since heat is an affection
of sense, but we may now explain how it can be produced by the heavenly
bodies which are not themselves hot.
We see that motion is able to dissolve and inflame the air; indeed, moving
bodies are often actually found to melt. Now the sun’s motion alone is
sufficient to account for the origin of terrestrial warmth and heat. For a
motion that is to have this effect must be rapid and near, and that of the stars
is rapid but distant, while that of the moon is near but slow, whereas the sun’s
motion combines both conditions in a sufficient degree. That most heat
should be generated where the sun is present is easy to understand if we
consider the analogy of terrestrial phenomena, for here, too, it is the air that is
nearest to a thing in rapid motion which is heated most. This is just what we
should expect, as it is the nearest air that is most dissolved by the motion of a
solid body.
This then is one reason why heat reaches our world. Another is that the fire
surrounding the air is often scattered by the motion of the heavens and driven
downwards in spite of itself.
Shooting-stars further suffix to prove that the celestial sphere is not hot or
fiery: for they do not occur in that upper region but below: yet the more and
the faster a thing moves, the more apt it is to take fire. Besides, the sun, which
most of all the stars is considered to be hot, is really white and not fiery in
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Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156