> In the 12th or 13th century, Alexander Neckham was working on his compendium
> of known science called De Natura Rerum or De Rebus Naturis or De Re Naturae,
> or some such title.
>
> When he came to the section on the tides, he wrote:
>
> concerning the origin of the tides, there are two dominant explanations given
> by the authorities.
>
> The first says that the serpent that circumscribes the earth [you can see this
> reptile on early maps of the known world] flexes and relaxes its coils. As it
> does so, it causes the ocean's waters to flow in and out, which causes the
> tides.
>
> The second says that there is a cavity in the ocean. When it opens, the water
> rushes into it, causing the tide to go out. When it closes, the water is
> expelled, causing the tide to come in.
>
> And then he goes on to say, almost as a toss-away: sed vulgi putant causa est
> luna. "But the peasants think the cause is the moon."
>
> It's notable that he uses putant as the word for thinking, which is lowest
> order of thinking (as in, I think I'm hungry), as opposed say, to cogitant,
> which is the kind of thinking Descartes did.
>
> Michael-please note that these are recollections of an encounter I had with
> Neckham more than 30 years ago. I don't have the materials with me any longer
> to check the accuracy of the text and the campus library is as bad off as
> yours. So please accept the spirit of it, which is right and accurate, and not
> the letter (i.e., the actual Latin wording), which could be off here and
> there. That is, don't go into print on this, but use it liberally with your
> students and you will be just fine.
>
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
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