Categories: Alternative conceptions
An example of a historical scientific notion which would now be considered an alternative conception:
"…the Aristotelian theory that comets were formed out of mere exhalations from the earth, which ignited in the sphere of fire all within the sublunary realm …"
Herbert Butterfield (1957) The Origins of Modern Science 1300-1800 (New Edition: Revised and enlarged). G. Bell and Sons Ltd., London.
The 'sphere of fire' is the highest of four elemental spheres (earth, water, air, fire) that sit below the heavenly spheres (composed of æther) in a model of the universe that was widely accepted for centuries.
