Livre du ciel et du monde Lore Books

Description

Or, The Book about the Heavens and the Earth is an important work by the French philosopher and astronomer Nicole Oresme. In the book he speculates, among other things, that the visible movement of the heavenly bodies from the earth may be only apparent and its real cause is the movement of the earth through the cosmos.

Text

On Heaven and Earth
Nicole Oresmus

God be praised, here begins Aristotle’s treatise On Heaven and Earth, which I, Nicole Oresmus, dean of the church of Rouen, propose to translate and explain in French by order of the almighty and most illustrious Prince Charles, the fifth named, by the grace of God, king of France, seeker and lover of all noble wisdom.
This work bears this title because it treats of the heavens and the elements of which the world is composed, the word world including the four elements contained in and under the heavens; for in this treatise the world is commonly interpreted otherwise to mean the whole mass of the heavens together with the four elements. Elsewhere world is used in several other senses not relevant to this treatise.This work contains four separate books. In the first of these, Aristotle considers the cosmos as a whole, as a unit in itself, and discusses its characteristic properties; in the second book he discusses the heavens; in the third book he examines the views of his predecessors on the elements; in the fourth book he expresses his own view of the elements. The first book contains thirty-six chapters.

1. In the first chapter, Aristotle proves that the world is perfect in both quantity and size.
2. In the second chapter, he explains how bodies in the world are capable of three simple movements.
3. In the third chapter, he applies his observations regarding local movements to several earthly bodies.
4. In the fourth chapter, he presents five reasons why, in addition to the four elements, it is necessary to assume another simple body.
5. In the fifth chapter, he shows that the heavens are neither heavy nor light.
6. In the sixth chapter, he suggests that the heavens could neither have been created, nor corrupted, nor increased, nor decreased, nor changed.
7. In the seventh chapter, he presents three proofs of what he has just stated.
8. In the eighth chapter, he shows that circular movement is not contradictory.
9. In the ninth chapter, he aims to determine whether there exists any infinite body.
10. In the tenth chapter, he shows that it is impossible for a body moving in a circle to be infinite.
11. In the eleventh chapter, he shows that no body capable of straight-line motion can be infinite.
12. In the twelfth chapter, he shows that neither heaviness nor lightness can be infinite.
13. In the thirteenth chapter, he broadly argues that no body can be infinite, basing his reasons on the rules governing local movement.
14. In the fourteenth chapter, he shows that no body can be infinite, using reasons based generally on all types of movements or actions.
15. In the fifteenth chapter, he presents other, more general and less obvious reasons to show that no body can be infinite.
16. In the sixteenth chapter, he proposes to determine whether there exist or can exist multiple worlds, and with two arguments proves that they cannot.
17. In the seventeenth chapter, he proves with another argument that there can only be one world.
18. In the eighteenth chapter, he proves that the elements move to certain specific places without the distance to them being infinite, which he had previously assumed.
19. In the nineteenth chapter, he refutes views contrary to what is stated in the previous chapter.
20. In the twentieth chapter, he again proves with two reasons that there can be only one world.
21. In the twenty-first chapter, he presents the reason why some believed that multiple worlds could exist.
22. In the twenty-second chapter, he finds an answer to the above argument, thereby confirming his view.
23. In the twenty-third chapter, he shows that no living body can exist outside this world, which he had previously assumed.
24. In the twenty-fourth chapter, he shows that there is nothing concerning a living body outside this world.
25. In the twenty-fifth chapter, he begins to question whether the world is eternal, and discusses the views of other ancient thinkers.
26. In the twenty-sixth chapter, he refutes Plato’s view.
27. In the twenty-seventh chapter, he refutes the views of Empedocles and Anaxagoras.
28. In the twenty-eighth chapter, he precisely explains various concepts that he will continue to use.
29. In the twenty-ninth chapter, he addresses the problem of the possible and the impossible with respect to a given force.
30. In the thirtieth chapter, he asserts and begins to prove that everything that had a beginning, and all things subject to change, will have an end, and also that everything that ends had or will have a beginning.
31. In the thirty-first chapter, he tries to prove as a universal law that what is not without a beginning is not without an end, and if it is not without an end, then it is not without a beginning; also, that what has no beginning is eternal, and if it is eternal, it is without a beginning.
32. In the thirty-second chapter, he shows how certain concepts used in this area of study are translatable.
33. In the thirty-third chapter, he again tries to prove that everything that had a beginning will necessarily have an end, and that everything that will have an end had a beginning.
34. In the thirty-fourth chapter, he further argues the same problem.
35. In the thirty-fifth chapter, he defends the idea that all perishable things will necessarily be destroyed, and further argues the previous question.
36. In the thirty-sixth chapter, he provides another more specific reason from natural science to support his claim.