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Underground Rivers - University of New Mexico

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Chapter 2 -- Greek Philosophers<br />

Heraclitus <strong>of</strong> Ephesus (540-475 BC) added the temporal dimension<br />

to questions <strong>of</strong> hydrology. “No man can twice step into the same<br />

river” isn’t just about rivers, <strong>of</strong> course, but about development and<br />

decay, a causal chain for water’s perpetual mobility.<br />

Heraclitus noted the following.<br />

The sun is a bowl, the concave side turned towards us, in which the bright exhalations from the<br />

sea collect and burn.<br />

The vapor, after kindling and going out again, reappears as dark clouds and fiery water spouts<br />

resembling smoke and comes down as water.<br />

As the sea is increased by rain, water passes into the earth.<br />

As the sea is diminished by evaporation, the earth is proportionally liquefied.<br />

At any moment, half <strong>of</strong> the sea is taking the downward path, having just been a fiery storm<br />

cloud, while half <strong>of</strong> it is going up, having just been earth.<br />

We're not told the means, but we can draw a schematic.<br />

Springs<br />

Ocean<br />

DRAFT 1122//66//22001122<br />

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