Geograficzny determinizm. Antyczna i średniowieczna nauka o klimatach w staropolskich traktatach kosmologicznych
The Geographical Determinism: The Ancient and Medieval Knowledge of Climates in Old Polish Cosmological Treatises

Summary/Abstract: In this article, the author examines the ancient and medieval knowledge of climates in the cosmological writing of Jan of Głogów, Wawrzyniec Korwin and Jan of Stobnica. The facts, information and knowledge that ancient and medieval authors had acquired about climates provided fertile ground for old Polish cosmological writers to articulate their ideas about the conditions of the atmosphere and weather at certain places in the world. By examining these climatic descriptions, the author shows how each writer constructed an image of the earth divided into climatic zones and how they expressed the belief that human societies were shaped by their physical location and environmental circumstances. The author also offers an analysis of these writers’ notion of the antipodes, focusing on the problem of living in these areas.This article sheds light on the early development of Polish climatology.

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