From the book
The Summary of Physics Restored
Attributed to Jean d’Espagnet · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordTemperament is the proportionate condition obtained by moderating and combining qualities. “Degree” names the variation within a quality that makes this account possible.
- In the bookThe author separates a quality’s presence from its extreme intensity. A successful natural process requires different measured conditions at different stages, not one unvarying level of heat or moisture.
- In this edition“Temperament,” “tempering,” “temperateness,” and “climate” reflect related Latin words in different contexts; none should automatically be read as personal disposition.
- A place to readCanons 102–104 for elemental tempering, then 135–144 for changing degrees in Nature’s circular work.
Meaning
temperamentum is the fitting composition of qualities in a subject or process. temperies can name a temperate condition or the state of the surrounding climate; intensio and remissio mark strengthening and abatement. The text’s point is relational: heat does not have to be absent for cold to be moderated, and a quality need not reach its maximum to operate.
Tempering is not mere inert averaging. Nature varies the conditions appropriate to sublimation, descent, and digestion. A higher degree can be required at one stage and disruptive at another. The language therefore provides a vocabulary of regulated activity, joined to the book’s recurring distinction between Nature’s intention and the disturbances that occur in particular events.
Use in the book
Canon 86 separates the Sun’s intrinsic temperateness from the changing force perceived in different positions and places. This provides a first caution: “stronger” to an observer is not immediately a change in the universal source’s own nature. Canon 92 similarly associates increased and decreased natural operations with the Sun’s approach and retreat.
The main argument begins in canon 101, where form composes matter into as perfect a temperament as its powers allow. That qualification matters. The wording limits the degree of perfection attained without explicitly assigning that limit to matter alone. Canon 102 describes the first union of light and darkness: qualities that were intense become abated through mixture and pass in that state into the elements. Canon 103 then distinguishes moderate coexistence from tyrannical excess. Heat and cold can meet to produce warmth; equally intense opposing qualities cannot jointly rule without turmoil.
Canon 104 extends the rule to wet and dry. Nature’s domain rests in temperateness, but its elements still possess qualities in greater or lesser measure. An interpretation that replaces the system with a single neutral temperature would lose those degrees. Canons 115–116 call the elements intermediate precisely because their originating extremes have been tempered. Canon 117 adds a theological and visual analogy: overwhelming light is veiled for human sight, and the rainbow’s differing colours form a harmonious token. The comparison is the author’s support for his physical argument, not an independent optical proof supplied by this lexicon.
The practical meaning of variation emerges in the circulation sequence. Canon 135 names three operations requiring different temperings. In canon 137 heat supplies the efficient impulse that raises vapour; the author allows it to be “somewhat intensified” so long as it remains within the range of temperament. Thus the earlier rejection of intense qualities is not a ban on every increase in heat. It rejects the excessive and tyrannical condition that destroys the natural work.
Descent requires another balance. Canon 140 describes a slight cold, or more precisely a failing heat, that lets condensed vapours fall. Excessive heat disperses them; intense cold binds them so tightly that they cannot yield falling moisture. The opposition is between workable and obstructive degrees, not between universally beneficent heat and universally harmful cold. Canon 141 then locates digestion in quiet inward heat. Its relative rest is the final use of the nourishment acquired through earlier exertions.
Canons 143–144 qualify the entire pattern. Volatile moisture and changing heavenly dispositions can disturb the climate, seasons, and fertility. The philosopher is directed to study Nature’s intention and order rather than merely the interruption of order. The book therefore makes temperament both an explanatory norm and a variable condition. It does not claim that every observed weather event supplies a perfect instance of the norm.
Places to read
- Canon 86 — 1653, p. 60LatinThe solar source is temperate despite variations in local experience.
- Canon 92 — 1653, pp. 63, 64LatinNatural operations are intensified and abated with solar changes.
- Canon 101 — 1653, p. 70LatinForm seeks a temperament as perfect as its powers allow.
- Canon 102 — 1653, pp. 70, 71LatinMixture abates initially intense qualities.
- Canon 103 — 1653, pp. 71, 72LatinDegrees separate friendly mixture from conflict.
- Canon 104 · Original marginal note 1 — 1653, p. 72LatinThe original heading states that elemental qualities are abated.
- Canon 104 — 1653, p. 72LatinTemperateness admits greater and lesser degrees.
- Canon 115 — 1653, p. 79LatinThe first principles transmit tempered qualities to the elements.
- Canon 116 — 1653, pp. 79, 80LatinIntermediate elements are distinguished from opposed extremes.
- Canon 117 · Original marginal note 1 — 1653, p. 80LatinThe historical margin cites Psalm 18 for the prophet-king’s description of veiled light.
- Canon 117 — 1653, pp. 80, 81LatinVeiled light and the rainbow illustrate moderated opposition.
- Canon 135 — 1653, p. 99LatinThree circular operations require different temperings.
- Canon 136 — 1653, pp. 99, 100LatinSublimation prepares material through lightening and relief of excess moisture.
- Canon 137 — 1653, pp. 100, 101LatinSublimation permits relatively heightened heat within limits.
- Canon 138 — 1653, p. 101LatinDescent returns vapour to dense watery body.
- Canon 139 — 1653, pp. 101, 102LatinIrrigation’s amount, form, and timing are measured to need.
- Canon 140 — 1653, p. 102LatinFalling moisture depends on a workable middle condition.
- Canon 141 — 1653, p. 103LatinQuiet inward heat completes digestion.
- Canon 142 — 1653, pp. 103, 104LatinThe operations are connected through their ordered succession.
- Canon 143 — 1653, pp. 104, 105LatinClimate and seasons are subject to interruption.
- Canon 144 — 1653, p. 105LatinThe reader is directed towards intention and order.
Translation in this edition
In canon 101 the edition retains pro viribus, “as its powers allow”; omitting it would turn a proportionate perfection into an unlimited claim. Canon 137’s quodammodo intensum is “somewhat intensified,” qualified immediately by the limits of temperament. Canon 140 corrects its own description with siue potiùs, “or rather”: failing heat is offered as a more precise account than slight cold. temperies in canon 143 becomes “climate,” showing why an English reader cannot retrieve the whole family only under “temperament.” These renderings preserve changes of context rather than impose a single technical equivalent.
Equal — aequalis
aequalis — The heat’s constancy in its solar source, not identical terrestrial experience. Canon 86; 1653, p. 60.
More intense — intensior
intensior — A relative description of heat as felt by us. Canon 86; 1653, p. 60.
More abated — remissior
remissior — The corresponding reduction in experienced force. Canon 86; 1653, p. 60.
According to powers — pro viribus
pro viribus — The express limit on the perfection available through the forming action. Canon 101; 1653, p. 70.
Abated degree — remisso gradu
remisso gradu — The condition under which heat and cold mingle amicably. Canon 103; 1653, pp. 71, 72.
Excess — excessu
excessu — The factor that turns intensity into destructive tyranny. Canon 103; 1653, pp. 71, 72.
Greater or lesser — plus aut minus
plus aut minus — The range of degrees still present in tempered elements. Canon 104; 1653, p. 72.
Different — diuerso
diuerso — The distinction between conditions needed for the three operations. Canon 135; 1653, p. 99.
Range — latitudinem
latitudinem — The permitted breadth of temperament within which increased heat remains natural. Canon 137; 1653, pp. 100, 101.
Failing heat — calor deficiens
calor deficiens — The refined explanation of the condition permitting moisture to descend. Canon 140; 1653, p. 102.