In his famous book, The spirit of laws, French philosopher Montesquieu proposes the controversial theory that geography and climate can influence the nature of men and societies. He believes that people living in warmer countries present a fiery, but vicious personality, whereas northern nations are braver, but cold and rigid. This meteorological climate theory is attributed to Montesquieu, but the ideas are actually older: one can find them in ancient texts as well, such as Aristotle’s works. Montesquieu explains the theory in Book XIV of his book, Of laws in relation to the nature of climate. According to him,‘If it be true that the temper of the mind and the passions of the heart are extremely different in different climates, the laws ought to be in relation both to the variety of those passions and to the variety of those tempers.’ His theory is based on certain observations, such as the fact that the extremities of the body’s external fibres contract with cold air, favouring the return of the blood towards the heart. By contracting, these fibres become stronger. Warmer air, however, causes the body to relax, reducing its strength. This is how Montesquieu concludes that men living in a colder climate are more vigorous, because the heart’s action and fibres’ reaction are better, and the blood travels faster towards the heart, giving the body more strength. Of course, this physical superiority also means men are braver, have a sense of superiority, a smaller desire for revenge, and are more honest, cleverer and less suspicious towards others. Montesquieu also states that if you place a man in a warm environment, he will be weakened, and that if you present him with a task, he’ll have no energy to fulfil it. Moreover, his weakness will discourage him, making him afraid of his own inability to act. This is why people in warmer countries are, just like old persons, mo