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A Source Book in Greek Science
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General SummaryDescriptions of the earth’s surface and its transformations, of the stones and minerals below its surface, of the rivers, oceans, and mountains on its surface, and of the winds, rains, snows, tides, storms, and earthquakes that occur near its surface are found in numerous Greek and Latin authors. Much of this material is included in what the Greeks called "meteorology." The chief extant sources of the various earth sciences are the Meteorologica of Aristotle and various other parts of the Aristotelian Corpus, the fragments On Stones and On Wind and Weather Signs of Theophrastus, Seneca’s Natural Questions, Pliny’s Natural History, a large amount of material scattered among the historians, e.g., Herodotus and Diodorus, the geographers, e.g., Ptolemy and Strabo, and the philosophic naturalists. Among the poets, Lucretius is an important source.
Biographical Summary1 In the first three books of the Meteorologica Aristotle treats the subjects that were usually included in that branch, (1) phenomena above the earth, e.g., comets, meteors, rain and snow, thunder and lightning, rainbows and halos, and (2) matters of physical geography, e.g., seas, rivers, winds, earthquakes, etc. The fourth book is thought to be by a contemporary and disciple of Aristotle. It is concerned not with meteorology in the usual sense but with certain physical and what we should call chemical processes such as putrefaction, ripening, boiling, broiling, solidification, and liquefaction. [Edd.]2 Though the ancients made widespread use of stones and minerals in various industries, they made little progress in what we call scientific mineralogy and petrology. It was not until the rise of chemistry and crystallography that great advances were made in these branches. The chief writings that have survived from antiquity are a considerable fragment of Theophrastus’ treatise On Stones and Books 33–37 of Pliny’s Natural History.
Theophrastus sought to lay a foundation for the classification of stones and minerals. His work treats the material rationally with only an occasional reference to the widespread magical lore on stones such as is found in the later Alexandrian treatises. Though in some eases it is difficult to identify the objects he is describing, because they are not pure substances, the descriptions are usually sufficient to permit identification. The classification according to the reactions to fire is particularly interesting. The passages given here set forth general considerations about the origin and classification of stones and some discussion of particular varieties.
GEOLOGY
Geology and Meteorology
PETROGRAPHY
STONES AS DISTINGUISHED FROM METALS
Aristotle, Meteorologica III. 6, 378a18–b4.1 Translation of E. W. Webster
We maintain that there are two exhalations, one vaporous the other smoky, and there correspond two kinds of bodies that originate in the earth, "fossiles" and metals. The heat of the dry exhalation is the cause of all "fossiles." Such are the kinds of stones that cannot be melted, and realgar, and ochre, and ruddle, and sulphur, and the other things of that kind, most "fossiles" being either coloured lye or, like cinnabar, a stone compounded of it. The vaporous exhalation is the cause of all metals, those bodies which are either fusible or malleable such as iron, copper, gold. All these originate from the imprisonment of the vaporous exhalation in the earth, and especially in stones. Their dryness compresses it, and it congeals just as dew or hoar-frost does when it has been separated off, though in the present case the metals are generated before that segregation occurs. Hence, they are water in a sense, and in a sense not. Their matter was that which might have become water, but it can no longer do so: nor are they, like savours, due to a qualitative change in actual water. Copper and gold are not formed like that, but in every case the evaporation congealed before water was formed. Hence, they all (except gold) are affected by fire, and they possess an admixture of earth; for they still contain the dry exhalation.1
Theophrastus, On Stones 1–82
Of the things formed in the ground, some have as their basis water, others earth. Those whose basis is water are the metals, silver, gold, and the like; those whose basis is earth are stone,3 including the rarer species, and also those types of earth itself which are peculiar by reason of their color, smoothness, density, or some other quality. The discussion on metals has been given in another work. In this treatise we shall now consider stones.
All these [stones] must be considered, to put it simply, to be formed from some pure and homogeneous substance. This substance may come into existence by means of a conflux or a percolation, or, as was observed above, may be separated out in some other manner. The stone may be formed in the various cases by any one of these means. From these [differences stones get] their smoothness, density, brightness, transparency, and other such qualities; and the more uniform and pure each stone is, the more does it have these properties. For, in general, these qualities depend on the perfection of the concretion or coagulation.
The concretion arises, in some substances, from heat, in others from cold. And there is no reason why some stones should not be formed as a result of both these causes (although earth products would all seem to have been formed by fire), since solidification and melting in each case are effected by opposite causes.
Stones show a large number of individual differences. In "earths" most variations are due to color, cohesion, smoothness, density, and the like, while other kinds of variation are rare; but stones show these differences and, in addition, differences due to the faculty of acting [upon other bodies], or of being acted upon or not. For example, they are soluble or not soluble, combustible or not combustible, and so on. In addition, they also show many differences when they are exposed to the action of fire.1 Further, some are said to have the power of making water appear of their own color, as the emerald; others of turning completely into stone whatever is put into [vessels made of] them;2 others of attracting; and still others of testing gold and silver, as the so-called Heraclian stone and the Lydian stone. Now the most marvellous and greatest quality of stones (if the account is true) is that of stones which bring forth young.3 But better known and of wider application is the matter of the workability of stones; for stone may be carved, others turned on a lathe, and others sawn. Yet there are some which no iron instrument will affect at all, and others which are cut with difficulty, or scarcely at all.
1 Here we have Aristotle’s attempt to link the origin of stones and metals with his doctrine of the four primary qualities, i.e., hot, cold, moist, and dry. [Edd.]
3 The reference is to the Aristotelian classification. See the preceding selection.
1 See the following selection.
2 The reference is to "sarcophagus," a type of limestone said to have been found at Assos in Asia Minor and to have the properties here ascribed to it. See K. C. Bailey, The Elder Pliny’s Chapters on Chemical Subjects II. 251–252.
3 What stones are referred to is doubtful. The reference may be to some aspect of crystallization. See K. C. Bailey, op. cit., II. 253.
Contents:
Chicago:
Aristotle, "Stones as Distinguished from Metals," A Source Book in Greek Science, trans. E. W. Webster in A Source Book in Greek Science, ed. Morris R. Cohen and I. E. Drabkin (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948), 374–376. Original Sources, accessed July 3, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UICMJULRMZLSPJ8.
MLA:
Aristotle. "Stones as Distinguished from Metals." A Source Book in Greek Science, translted by E. W. Webster, Vol. III, in A Source Book in Greek Science, edited by Morris R. Cohen and I. E. Drabkin, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1948, pp. 374–376. Original Sources. 3 Jul. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UICMJULRMZLSPJ8.
Harvard:
Aristotle, 'Stones as Distinguished from Metals' in A Source Book in Greek Science, trans. . cited in 1948, A Source Book in Greek Science, ed. , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp.374–376. Original Sources, retrieved 3 July 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UICMJULRMZLSPJ8.
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