Epicurean meteorology : sources, method, scope and organization / by Frederik A. Bakker.

Preface -- List of tables -- List of illustrations -- List of abbreviations -- General introduction -- Multiple explanations -- Introduction -- Preliminary observations -- Causes and explanations -- Variations in the use of multiple explanations -- Truth, probability and personal preferences -- Introduction -- Are all alternative explanations true? -- Contestation or disagreement with appearances -- Incompatibility with explanations of other phenomena -- Non-contestation and analogy -- Degrees of probability and personal preferences -- Lucretius' supposed preference for the theories of mathematical astronomy -- Multiple explanations and doxography -- The sources of the method of multiple explanations -- Introduction -- Democritus -- Aristotle -- Theophrastus -- The syriac meteorology -- Conclusions about the origins of the method -- Conclusions -- Range and order of subjects in ancient meteorology -- Introduction -- Range, delimitation and subdivisions of meteorology -- Introduction -- The texts -- The table -- Some observations -- Some conclusions -- Terrestrial phenomena other than earthquakes -- Lucretius -- Parallels in meteorology and paradoxography -- Conclusion -- Order of subjects -- Introduction -- The table -- Some observations -- Proposed original order of subjects -- Deviations from the proposed original order -- The internal structure of chapters and sections -- Relations between the four texts -- Epicurus' letter to pythocles and his "other meteorology" -- Lucretius DRN vi and epicurus' "other meteorology" -- Authorship and identity of the syriac meteorology -- Lucretius, epicurus and the syriac meteorology -- A�etius' placita and theophrastus' physical opinions -- Summary -- Conclusions -- Epilogue : epicurean cosmology and astronomy -- The shape of the earth -- Introduction -- Historical and conceptual context -- The shape of the earth in antiquity : a historical overview -- Ancient proofs of the earth's sphericity -- Epicurus' ancient critics -- The direction of natural motion and the shape of the earth -- Discussion of relevant passages -- The rejection of centrifocal natural motion (DRN iiopjf.) -- Downward motion (DRN 1162-250) -- The apparent proximity ofthe sun (DRN IV404-413) -- Climatic zones? (DRN v204-205) -- Lucretius' cosmogony (DRN V449-508) -- Stability of the earth (DRN V 534-563) -- The size of the sun (DRN V564-591) -- Centrifocal terminology (DRN V621-636) -- Sunrise and sunset (DRN v650-679) -- The earth's conical shadow (DRN V 762-770) -- The 'limp' of the cosmic axis (DRN 1107) -- Philodemus and the gnomon (PhiL De sign. 47.3-8) -- Conclusions -- General conclusions -- Multiple explanations in epicurus' letter to pythocles -- Multiple explanations in lucretius' DRN V and VI -- General structure of the syriac meteorology -- Bibliography -- Index locorum -- General index.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on August 01, 2016).

In Epicurean Meteorology Frederik Bakker discusses the meteorology as laid out by Epicurus (341-270 BCE) and Lucretius (1st century BCE). Although in scope and organization their ideas are clearly rooted in the Peripatetic tradition, their meteorology sets itself apart from this tradition by its systematic use of multiple explanations and its sole reliance on sensory evidence as opposed to mathematics and other axiomatic principles. Through a thorough investigation of the available evidence Bakker offers an updated and qualified account of Epicurean meteorology, arguing against Theophrastus' authorship of the Syriac meteorology , highlighting the originality of Lucretius' treatment of mirabilia , and refuting the oft-repeated claim that the Epicureans held the earth to be flat.

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