The Visible World

¹ We cannot think too highly of the works of God.

Can we explain all the phenomena of nature from the principles of material things?

We will begin with the most general phenomena on which the others depend – the general structure of this visible world.

But first we must consider 2 things:

1. We should ever bear in mind the infinity of the power and goodness of God

In this way, we avoid the mistake of imagining his works to be too great, beautiful, and perfect. Instead, we must not put limits to those which we have no certain knowledge. This will prevent us from thinking less highly of the power of God.

² We should not think too highly of ourselves.

2. We think too highly of ourselves if we put certain limits to the world, without being assured of their existence either:

• by natural reasons or
• by divine revelation.

Putting limits on the world will make the power of our thought extend beyond what God has made in reality.

It will lead us to believe that:

• all things were created by God for us only.
• our intellect could comprehend the ends which God proposed to himself in creating the universe.

³ How were all things were created for the sake of man?

Morally, it may be pious to believe that God made all things for us,. It can incite us to be more thankful and loving towards him.

It is even in some sense true, because we can imagine using anything in existence. This will lead us to believe that all things were created for us.

But this supposition would be plainly ridiculous and inept in physical reasoning because there are many things that exist that we cannot see or know, and were not useful to us.

5 To us, at first glance, the Earth appears much larger than all other bodies in the universe, and the Sun and Moon seem to be much smaller than the Earth, but not so small as to be imperceptible.

We can easily calculate the distance between the Earth and the Moon to be about thirty times the diameter of the Earth, and the distance between the Sun and the Earth to be about a hundred times the diameter of the Earth. These calculations are based on the apparent diameters of the Sun and Moon, which we can observe and measure

6 We also know, with the help of reason, that Mercury is more than 200 times farther from the Sun than Venus, and that Mars is more than 400 times farther from the Sun than Earth, and that Jupiter is more than 1,000 times farther from the Sun than Earth, and that Saturn is more than 5 or 6 times farther from the Sun than Jupiter.

7 Fixas non pojfefupponi nimis remotas.

Quantum autem ad Fixas, non permittunt quidem phaenomena, ut ipfas à Sole aut Terra non magis quàm Saturnum diftare arbitremur; fed nulla obftant, quominùs ad quantumlibet immenfam diftantiam recolligiturque ex motibus motas effe fupporimus: colligiturque ex motibus coeli infrà explicandis eas à nobis effe adeô diftantes, ut Saturnus ad ipfas comparatus videatur admodum propinquus.

8. The Earth is not visible from the sky, nor does it appear to be a planet, nor is it comparable to Jupiter or Saturn. From which it is manifest that the Moon and Earth, if they were to be compared to Jupiter or Saturn, would appear much smaller, than they do when compared to the Sun. And therefore, lest we should rashly judge the parts of the world to be incomparable, it is fitting that we should not compare the Moon, or Earth, or Sun, to the stars in magnitude."

16. The hypotheses of Ptolemy do not satisfy the appearances. The first of these is Ptolemy’s own, which, since it is contrary to many phenomena (such as the increase and decrease of light, which is observed in Venus and the Moon), is now generally rejected by all philosophers, and therefore I will pass over it here."

23. All the fixed stars are not visible in the same sphere, but each one has its own proper place and distance from the others.

If the Sun were in the same sphere as the fixed stars, all of them would be visible in a single circumference, as many suppose, because they cannot be in the same circumference as the Sun.

But, just as the Sun has a vast space around it, in which no fixed star is contained, so too each individual fixed star is very remote from all the others, and much more so than the others, both from us and from the Sun.

Therefore, in this figure, if S represents the Sun, F represents the fixed stars, and the others are innumerable, both above and below, and beyond this figure’s plane, they can be understood to be scattered throughout all the dimensions of space.

24. The heavens are fluid.

Thirdly, the Sun, fixed stars, and the entire material of the sky is fluid, as all astronomers now admit. This is because they observe that the phenomena of the planets cannot be explained in any other way.

This is a fact that has been acknowledged by all astronomers, and it is a matter of great wonder how the heavens, which appear to be so solid and unchanging, are in reality fluid and in constant motion.

25. The heavens contain all bodies within themselves and carry them along.

However, many people arew mistaken in this regard. They attribute fluidity to the sky, imagining it to be a vast, empty space. Thus, they do not realize that it has no power to move other bodies or to resist their motion.

In fact, there is no such thing as a vacuum in nature.

All bodies are fluid and have this in common, that they do not resist the motion of other bodies. Instead, they themselves have motion.

This motion is easily transmitted to all parts. This is why its force, once it is determined in one part, necessarily carries along all other bodies that are contained within it. This is regardless of any external cause that might retain them, as has been shown above.

26. The Earth is carried in the sky, but nothing can be carried from it.

Fourthly, we see the Earth as having no columns or supports. It is surrounded by a fluid sky on all sides. We can say that it is carried.

It has no propensity to move when we do not perceive it.

But let us not think that this is an obstacle, for the sky carries it and its motion is not hindered.

A ship, driven by no winds nor oars, lies motionless in the middle of the sea. A huge mass of water, hidden by the darkness, slowly consumes it. Likewise, the Earth is carried by the sky and unaided by any external force, silently and imperceptibly moves along its course.

27. The other planets are similar to the Earth.

They are also opaque and reflect the radiance of the Sun. Each one has its own unique quality in the region of the sky where it is located. All the variations that are observed in them come from the fact that all the material of the sky, which contains them, is in motion.

28. The Earth and the planets do not have a motion of their own.

But common people confuse true inherent motion with mere movement. They call the motion of a body its movement from one place to another.

This is true. But it is not the same as the motion of the body itself.

This is because the body does not move of its own accord. Instead, it is moved by the motion of its gravitational territory.

In the same way, our sky is immediately moved by the motion of the Earth.

Therefore, there is no inherent motion in the Earth or in the other planets.

9. Moreover, even if the Earth were to move, it would not be proper to attribute its motion to the improper use of the term ‘motion’ by the common people.

The Earth’s motion is not like the motion of the other planets, which can be seen to move in the sky.

Rather, the Earth’s motion is a result of the motion of the parts of the sky that are immediately adjacent to it, and it is not the Earth itself that moves.

The common people think that the Earth moves because they see the stars moving in the sky. And so they think that the Earth is moved in the same way.

But the stars are fixed in their places and do not move of their own accord. Whereas, the Earth is moved by the motion of the parts of the sky that are immediately adjacent to it.

Therefore, it is not proper to say that the Earth moves, but rather that it is moved by the motion of the parts of the sky that are immediately adjacent to it. And this is why the Earth does not move of its own accord, but rather it is moved by the motion of the parts of the sky that are immediately adjacent to it.

It would be foolish to say that the Earth is a globe in the heavens and that it moves.

For the Earth is not a globe in the sky, but rather it is a flat plane, and it does not move of its own accord.

The stars, on the other hand, are fixed in their places and do not move of their own accord, but they appear to move because of the motion of the parts of the sky that are immediately adjacent to them.

And so, it is not proper to say that the Earth moves, but rather that it is moved by the motion of the parts of the sky that are immediately adjacent to it.

30. All planets revolve around the Sun.

Therefore, can we consider the motion of the Earth, which is one of the planets, to be similar to the motion of the other planets?

That is, can we say that the Earth and the other planets are carried along by a common vortex, with the Sun at its center, and that the parts of the Earth and the other planets are moved by the motion of the vortex?

From this, it follows that all phenomena in the heavens can be easily understood.

For example, if obstructions are placed in the water where rivers flow, the water forms a vortex and carries along with it the obstructions. Some of them even turn around their own centers and perform a complete rotation faster than the center of the vortex.

The motion of the planets is always circular. But it is rare for them to describe perfect circles. Instead, they deviate slightly in longitude and latitude.