Physica speculatio facts for kids
 |
|
| Author | Alonso de la Vera Cruz |
|---|---|
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Latin |
| Subject | science |
Physica speculatio is a very old and important science book. It was written by Alonso de la Vera Cruz in 1557 in the capital of New Spain, which is now Mexico City. This book was the first one published in the Americas that specifically talked about physics. It was created to teach students at the Royal University of Mexico.
The book introduced important ideas about how the universe works. It mainly discussed the geocentric model, which believed the Earth was the center of the universe. But it also mentioned the heliocentric model, which correctly places the Sun at the center.
Fray Alonso de la Vera Cruz published a series of three books in Latin called a Course of Arts. The first book, Recognitio Summularum, came out in 1553. It helped students at the Royal University of Mexico understand philosophy through logic. A year later, the second book, Dialectica Resolutio, was published as a follow-up. Physica speculatio was the last book in this series.
This important work had four different editions. The last three were shorter versions made for students in Salamanca, Spain.
What the Book is About
The Physica speculatio is all about studying and explaining physics and nature. Fray Alonso de la Vera Cruz wrote it from a philosophical point of view, much like the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle.
The book covers many different topics:
- Part One: It discusses basic ideas about physical things. This includes what makes up a physical object, how things move, the idea of infinity, space, time, and the "first mover" that starts everything.
- Part Two: This part talks about how living things are born and how they die. It also explores mixed and complex beings, basic qualities, and the elements (like earth, air, fire, and water) and their properties.
- Part Three: Here, Alonso de la Vera Cruz explains ideas about weather and the sky. He talks about stars and how people thought they influenced humans. He also describes the three layers of the air, comets, ocean tides, lightning, and many other weather events.
- Part Four: This section focuses on Aristotle's ideas about the soul.
- Ending: The book finishes with thoughts on Aristotle's ideas about the sky and the heavens.
How the Book Was Made
The Physica speculatio is a large book, with 400 pages of paper. These pages have two columns of text each. If you were to type it all out today, it would be about 900 pages long. If you translated it into Spanish, it would be nearly 1200 pages!
The book includes writings that are titled just like Aristotle's original works:
- Eight books of physics
- On Generation and Corruption
- On the meteors
- On the soul
- On the sky
It also has an extra section at the end. This section is called Tractatus de Sphera. It was written by an Italian mathematician and astronomer named Campanus of Novara in the 1200s. This part was first printed in 1518.
Structure and Style
The main parts of Physica speculatio are called "Books." These generally match the way Aristotle organized his own works.
Each "Book" is then divided into smaller sections called "Speculations." You can think of these "Speculations" as chapters.
The book is written using a special teaching style called the "scholastic method." First, it presents ideas or statements that are against the main point. Then, it explains and supports the correct idea with reasons and details.
See also
In Spanish: Physica speculatio para niños
