Ibn Sīnā—al-Bīrūnī Correspondence—III

Abstract

In this third installment of the correspondence between Ibn Sīnā and al-Bīrūnī, five more questions are asked and answered. Al-Bīrūnī rejects Aristotle’s reasoning for his assertion that if the heavens were to be elliptical rather than spherical, a vacuum would be created. Al-Bīrūnī also objects to Aristotle’s assertion that the motion of the heavens begins from the right side and from the east. In his eighth question, al-Bīrūnī asks how is it that Aristotle considered the element fire to be spherical. The ninth question deals with the movement of heat and the tenth with the transformation of elements into each other. Ibn Sīnā responds to all questions.