Aristotle. Dello stato delle republiche secondo la mente di Aristotele 1591 Discorsi della penitenza 1589 Governo della famiglia 1589 On winds and caves In a part of the book "About Aristotle's meteors" relating to the meteorology which discuss the phenomenon of wind, the writer mentions two caves noted to generate very strong winds at their entrances: Šipun cave near Cavtat in the Dubrovnik area An unnamed cave in Popovo polje in Herzegovina – most probably today's Vjetrenica cave (vjetar=wind) Based on these observations, Gučetić explained the origin of winds in general and winds in some caves by the process of evaporation of the Earth's elements which is caused by the Sun. Being warm, dryer and denser, the evaporation medium is unable to penetrate the Earth through its surface, but only through the large openings and that is what produces wind. Gučetić noted that wind cannot be observed deeper inside the cave, but only at the entrance. He explained that by the acceleration of the air current in narrower passages, similar to that one of the sea current in narrow sea passages. In the case of a windless šipun cave, Gučetić stated that this phenomenon is not universal for all caves. He explained the absence of wind on its entrance by its higher humidity and presence of a lake in one or more of possible passages. According to his opinion, the bigger amount of water is favorable for the growth of stygobites and troglobites which are abundant in the šipun cave. See also List of notable Ragusans History of Dalmatia References External links Biography Vjetrenica Cave Croatian Speleology Croatian Speleology Links UCLA Special Collection Library Croatian scientists People from Dubrovnik 1549 births 1610 deaths People from the Republic of Ragusa Ragusan scholars Ragusan writers