An example of an historical scientific conception:
"As to the ordinary matter of which the earth is composed, it is formed of four elements, and these are graded according to their virtue, their nobility. There is earth, which is the meanest stuff of all, then water, then air and, finally, fire, and this last comes highest in the hierarchy.We do not see these elements in their pure and undiluted form, however the earthy stuff that we handle when we pick up a little soil is a base compound and the fire that we actually see is mixed with earthiness. Of the four elements, earth and water possess gravity; they have a tendency to fall; they can only be at rest at the centre of the universe. Fire and air do not have gravity, but possess the very reverse; they are characterised by levity, an actual tendency to rise, though the atmosphere clings a little to the earth because it is loaded with base mundane impurities. For all the elements have their spheres, and aspire to reach their proper sphere, where they find stability and rest; and when flame, for example, has soared to its own upper region it will be happy and contented, for here it can be still and can most endure."
Herbert Butterfield (1957) The Origins of Modern Science 1300-1800 (New Edition: Revised and enlarged). G. Bell and Sons Ltd., London
Butterfield describes the long lasting notion of there being four elements that comprise (in various combinations) all material in the world (that is, Earth – the heavens were usually considered to be made up of a fifth element, æther). Note that gravity and levity are seen as properties of material objects themselves rather than being seen as relational as in Newtonian mechanics.
These ideas are anthropomorphic, as they assign to matter characteristics of human personalities – to aspire, to be happy and contented. In modern scienrfic thinking such notions would be seen as pseudo-explanations: you cannot explain motion in terms of what makes flame happy!
Read examples of anthropomorphism in science
