De Proprietatibus Elementorum
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De Proprietatibus Elementorum (English: On the Properties of the Elements) is a Medieval Arabic treatise on geology. It is also known as De Causis Proprietatum Elementorum, De Proprietatibus Elementorum et Planetarum or simply De Elementis.[1] It was probably written in the ninth[1] or tenth century.[2] The author of the work claimed to be Aristotle, but eventually it was determined that it was an original work by an Arab author. Consequently, the work is now attributed to a Pseudo-Aristotle.[3]
The work did not have a lasting impact on science in the medieval Islamic world, but it became important in Europe after it was translated to Latin by Gerard of Cremona in the twelfth century.[3] By the thirteenth century, it had become one of the three main sources for medieval knowledge on geology, together with Aristotle's Meteorology and Avicenna's De Mineralibus. These three treatises were an important influence on the study of geology by Albertus Magnus.[4] When scholars started to recognize during the Renaissance that De Proprietatibus Elementorum was not written by Aristotle, it was removed from the academic curriculum.[1]