Note 41 — Chapter I · THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

Some thought in antiquity that a passage in the Timaeus, 40, shows that Plato believed that the earth rotates on its axis; but this interpretation of the passage was disputed even in classical times, and other passages 370in Plato’s works seem to confirm us in holding that he thought that the earth stands immobile (Duhem, Système, vol. i, p. 86). It should be noted that though Plato placed the World Soul in the center of the earth and of the universe, he was also convinced that great fires exist in the earth’s interior. See above, p. 32.