Meteorology (
Greek: ;
Latin:
Meteorologica or
Meteora) is all the affections we may call common to air and water, and the kinds and parts of the earth and the affections of its parts. These include early accounts of water
evaporation, weather phenomena, and
earthquakes. An Arabic compendium of the text called made by the Antiochene scholar
Yahya ibn al-Bitriq and widely circulated among Muslim scholars, was translated into Latin by
Gerard of Cremona in the 12th century and by this means during the
Twelfth-century Renaissance entered the Western European world of
medieval scholaticism. Gerard's "old translation" (
vetus translatio) was superseded by an improved text by
William of Moerbeke, the
nova translatio, which was widely read, as it survives in numerous manuscripts; it received commentary by
Thomas Aquinas and was often printed during the
Renaissance.