skip to content

Astronomical Images : The elementary qualities and their combinations

Oronce Fine

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Oronce Fine (1494-1555) was a prolific author on mathematics, instruments and astronomy, among other things, and held, from 1531, the chair of mathematics at the newly established Collège Royal (known since 1870 as the Collège de France) in Paris. He is credited with the promotion of mathematics through his numerous publications and instruments. He also made and sold his own instruments, encouraged others to make their own by cutting out pages from his practical manuals, and worked as editor and overseer in printing houses. Fine published on a range of topics, and was interested in practical concerns as well as abstract debates, so while he is remembered for theoretical achievements, such as giving the value of pi correct to four significant figures, he also worked extensively with instruments and maps. While traditionally Fine's competence as a mathematician has been questioned, recent assessments have emphasised how he represented Renaissance mathematical culture, encompassing geometry, surveying, optics, cosmography, cartography, and astronomy. In cartography, Fine produced a cordiform, or heart-shaped, projection which was often used by later map-makers. This 1555 work was based on part of Fine's <i>De mundi sphaera, sive cosmographia</i> of 1542. In the 1542 work, Fine had presented the material in five distinct books. The fifth book of this work, which covered aspects of astronomy, geography and hydrography, was then digested, annotated and furnished with new examples, to produce the 1555 work from which this image is taken. This woodcut superimposes squares of opposition for the four Elements and the four qualities. Each of the Elements contains two of the primary qualities, one of which is strong (<i>summa</i>) and the other, weaker (<i>remissa</i>). Fire is hot and dry, Air is wet and hot, Water is cold and wet, Earth is dry and cold. Among these, Fire is hotter, Air, wetter, Water, colder and Earth, drier. The word '<i>simbolisantia</i>' means 'correspondence', indicating, for example, that Fire and Air share the quality of heat. '<i>Contraria</i>', those that do not correspond, are Fire and Water, and Air and Earth. Similarly, primary qualities shared by an Element are '<i>convenientes</i>', whilst '<i>repugnantes</i>' are those that cannot coexist. The relationship between the Elements and qualities is ultimately drawn from Aristotle's <i>On Generation and Corruption</i>, book 2, chapter 3.</p>


Want to know more?

Under the 'More' menu you can find , and information about sharing this image.

No Contents List Available
No Metadata Available

Share

If you want to share this page with others you can send them a link to this individual page:
Alternatively please share this page on social media

You can also embed the viewer into your own website or blog using the code below: