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day and night to be on the earth. It causes the day to be
born with it, and on the other side the earth is shadowy,
that is in shadow and dark, for it leaves in shadow
the part that it cannot shine upon. This is the shadow
of night, that takes from us the joy of day. But because
the sun is larger than the whole earth, the shadow
gradually shrinks so that at the end it comes to
nothing, like the sound of a church bell.
But if the sun and the earth were the same size,
the shadow would never come to an end, but rather
it would be equal in size without diminishment.
And if the earth were larger, the shadow of the
sun would continue to grow. You can see the form
and matter of this in the three figures portrayed on the other
side of this page. You can also prove it without drawings.
Take something dark that can retain light, like
a piece of wood or a stone, or something else that
can be seen if you put it between your eyes and
something that you want to see, whether that be the sky
or the earth or whatever you want. If the thing you
are holding is larger than the length of your two eyes,
it will prevent you