Aristotle's Meteorology Book 4 provides an account of the formation of minerals, metals, and other homogeneous stuffs. Eric Lewis argues that, in doing so, it offers fresh insight into Aristotle's conception of matter. The four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) do have matter, and their matter is the contraries - hot and cold, moist and dry. Lewis further argues that in the text translated here, the only extant ancient commentary on the Meteorology, Alexander of Aphrodisias supports this interpretation of Aristotle. Such a conception of matter complements the account given at an earlier...

Addressing a wide range of improvised art and music forms--from jazz and cinema to dance and literature--this volume's contributors locate improvisation as a key site of mediation between the social and the aesthetic. As a catalyst for social experiment and political practice, improvisation aids in the creation, contestation, and codification of social realities and identities. Among other topics, the contributors discuss the social aesthetics of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the Feminist Improvising Group, and contemporary Malian music, as well as the virtual...

Addressing a wide range of improvised art and music forms--from jazz and cinema to dance and literature--this volume's contributors locate improvisation as a key site of mediation between the social and the aesthetic. As a catalyst for social experiment and political practice, improvisation aids in the creation, contestation, and codification of social realities and identities. Among other topics, the contributors discuss the social aesthetics of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the Feminist Improvising Group, and contemporary Malian music, as well as the virtual...