 Israeli adopts the Aristotelian doctrine of the four elements which compose all material objects: earth, air, fire and water. These elements are generated by the motion of the heavenly sphere, and they inhere in a material substratum—though Israeli does not elucidate its nature. Although Israeli does not explicitly state that the elements are made up of form and matter, Altmann and Stern (Isaac Israeli, p. 183) present a strong case for his acceptance of this idea. In his Mantua Text, also known as the Chapter on the Elements, he describes the generative order of the elements. The motion of the sphere of the world generated heat, and thus is fire brought into existence. As fire cooled, it became air, which, moving away from fire, cooled and moistened into water, and as water moved from air it cooled and dried and generated earth (Altmann and Stern, Isaac Israeli, pp. 120–121).