COSMOGRAPHIAE

the habitation of living things, stands unveiled and set forth.

Pure air, which is thin and translucent, is diffused in the higher region and encompasses both those others, just as we have said regarding the egg.

Finally, fire, surpassing the other elements in lightness, being subtle and swift, surrounds the air from which it rises and, bordering on the heaven, encircles all things.

The heaven is, as it were, a partition of all things, being of a nature or substance that is subtle, translucent, devoid of change, and ultimately unknown to us. To one observing its motion—which is perfect and constant in all its numbers, as well as the gleaming brightness of the stars that God has affixed to it for the sake of adornment—it might be judged to be an exquisite and almost divine material.

The reasons why it is sometimes called Aether αἰθὴρ aether or Heaven οὐρανὸς sky/heaven, because it pertains little to our design, we shall not recount in this place. However, we shall briefly explain what a Sphere is, what a Center is, and some other things of this kind that contribute to illustrating the description of the entire World.

A Sphere, therefore, or Globe, is a body round on all sides and devoid of any flat surface, of the sort that we commonly call a ball.

A Center is the middle or point equally

Vocabulary: Cosmography, Aether, Sphere, Center, Elements, World