Chapter I. Of the World.

Pythagoras was the first philosopher that called the world [Greek omitted], from the order and beauty of it; for so that word signifies. Thales and his followers¹ say the world is one. Democritus, Epicurus, and their scholar Metrodorus affirm that there are infinite worlds in an infinite space, for that infinite vacuum in its whole extent contains them. Empedocles, that the circle which the sun makes in its motion circumscribes² the world, and that circle is the utmost bound of the world. Seleucus, that the world knows no limits. Diogenes, that the universe is infinite, but this world is finite. The Stoics³ make a difference between that which is called the universe, and that which is called the whole world; — the universe is the infinite space considered with the vacuum, the vacuity⁴ being removed gives the right conception of the world; so that the universe and the world are not the same thing.

1 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

2 circumscribes   

v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的第三人称单数 )；划定…范围；限制；限定

参考例句：

3 stoics   

禁欲主义者，恬淡寡欲的人，不以苦乐为意的人( stoic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Stoics I can handle this shit. 斯多葛：我能掌握这大便。
• The most famous exercise of meditation is the premeditatio mallorum as practiced by the Stoics. 冥思最著名的练习是禁欲学派所实行的[消灾冥思]。

4 vacuity   

n.(想象力等)贫乏，无聊，空白

参考例句：

• Bertha thought it disconcerted him by rendering evident even to himself the vacuity of his mind. 伯莎认为这对他不利，这种情况甚至清楚地向他自己证明了他心灵的空虚。
• Temperature and vacuity rising can enhance osmotic flux visibly. 升高温度和降低膜下游压力可明显提高膜的渗透通量。