During the 1240s, Richard Fishacre, a Dominican friar at Oxford University, made a bold claim: the stars and planets are made of the same elements as those on Earth. His views challenged the common belief of the time, which held that these celestial bodies consisted of a special “fifth element.”
Historically, Aristotle suggested that everything in the universe was made up of four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. The “fifth element,” known as “quintessence,” was thought to be perfect and unchanging, existing only in the heavens. Fishacre, however, used his understanding of light and color to argue against this idea.
He believed that the faint colors we see from planets like Mars and Venus indicated they are not made from some unique celestial material, but rather from the same four earthly elements. Fishacre reasoned that color appears with opaque objects, which must be composites of those four elements. For example, if the moon, with its distinct color, were made of the fifth element, it should allow sunlight to pass through—just like glass—but it doesn’t.
This argument was quite daring at the time. Fishacre faced intense criticism for challenging established beliefs. Notably, in 1250, his teachings were attacked by St. Bonaventure at the University of Paris, who ridiculed those like Fishacre who dared to question Aristotle’s teachings.
Fast forward nearly 800 years, and modern science has vindicated Fishacre. Recent findings from the James Webb Space Telescope show that exoplanets, such as TOI-421 b, contain elements like water and sulfur dioxide—substances we know are prevalent on Earth. This discovery used a technique similar to Fishacre’s method of analyzing light and color.
According to a recent NASA report, this kind of research helps scientists understand the materials that make up distant planets. It emphasizes that light not only reveals the nature of objects but can also challenge centuries-old beliefs about our universe.
It’s fascinating to think how Fishacre’s thoughts, once met with disdain, laid early groundwork for how we understand celestial bodies today. His work reminds us that questioning widely accepted ideas can lead to important breakthroughs in scientific thinking.
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