Şeylerin Tabiatı: Sıcaklık, Soğukluk ve Madde

In the midst of empty Space, God placed matter, that is, unconstructed Body, fit for receiving construction. And He applied to it two active causes: Heat and Cold. As these two acted upon the common mass to make it their own, they produced the two primary Bodies of the World. Heat produced the heavens from matter that was conquered and thinned. Cold produced the earth from the portion it seized and condensed. For the more robust Heat quickly thinned its portion; leaping forth in every direction toward the periphery, which we call upward, it approached there, fleeing its enemy Cold. Driven into a circuit, it expanded the Heavens. Feeling its own thinness being seized and overcome by the cold in certain parts, it united itself and shone forth; there, the Heaven is called a Star. Next, the Sun, revolving around the earth and attacking it, creates air and vapor if it thins the matter. If it liquefies the matter, it creates water; if it hardens it, stones; if it does both, plants; and if it liquefies, hardens, and thins the matter all at once, it creates animals. For Body has no structure except that which comes from heat and cold shaping it into specific images.