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800 Years Later: Fishacre's Celestial Theories Resurrected

11/24/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Dominican friar Richard Fishacre, active in the 1240s, argued that stars and planets are made of the four terrestrial elements, not a fifth.
Fishacre used light and color as evidence.
He argued that the moon's color and its eclipse of the sun contradicted the idea of a transparent fifth element.
The James Webb Space Telescope uses similar methods to those Fishacre used, confirming his theories nearly 800 years later.

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Story summary

Dominican friar Richard Fishacre, active in the 1240s, argued that stars and planets are made of the four terrestrial elements, not a fifth.
Fishacre used light and color as evidence.
He argued that the moon's color and its eclipse of the sun contradicted the idea of a transparent fifth element.
The James Webb Space Telescope uses similar methods to those Fishacre used, confirming his theories nearly 800 years later.