From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordKausis is burning, the process by which fire or heat consumes or alters something.
- In StobaeusThe account of lightning distinguishes materials that resist passage and burn from porous materials through which the moving wind passes before burning occurs.
- In this edition“Burning” should remain distinct from the separately mentioned melting of bronze.
- A place to beginResistance and porosity are invoked to explain unequal effects of lightning.
- English renderings
- burning
Meaning
Kausis is burning, the process by which fire or heat consumes or alters something.
Use in the book
The account of lightning distinguishes materials that resist passage and burn from porous materials through which the moving wind passes before burning occurs. A shield’s bronze may melt while its wood remains unharmed. The contrast is explained through resistance and ease of passage within the source’s meteorology.
Places to read
- I.29.1.19Resistance and porosity are invoked to explain unequal effects of lightning.
Translation in this edition
“Burning” should remain distinct from the separately mentioned melting of bronze.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 235. The examples also occur in Aristotle’s Meteorology. They report the ancient explanation rather than a modern account of electrical conductivity.