Was Aristotle Somewhat Right?

[vbasic77]

Aristotle said there are Four Elements: Earth, Water, Wind and Fire.
In reeality, did he discover the Four States of Matter? Solid=Earth, Liquid=Water, Wind=Air and Plasma=Fire.
I research the fire=plasma and it seems to be somewhat true.
Any comments would be appreciated.

[davebro]

it was a start

[Peter Pedant]

this is absolute bolloo and should be consigned to 'Jokes'
alternatively you have around 2000 y of experiment and theory to catch up on

[vbasic77]

First, I probably phrased the question wrong. It should have been "What did Aristotle Actually Discover in Relation to Matter?".
Next, I brought up the issue because it was discussed on a local radio show.
Also, regarding my knowledge set, I was a Physics Major at University and took a minor in the History of Science and Technology. So I try to be factual as well as understand what scientists, philosophers and Natural Philosophers ponder.

[douglas9401]

Rene Descartes was a drunken fart, "I drink, therefore I am".

[Buenchico]

Aristotle's third element wasn't 'wind' but 'air'. Further, he believed in the possibility of a fifth element, 'aether' .

His model saw 'hot' and 'cold' as two distinct entities, rather than 'cold' simply being the absence of heat. (Incidentally, I saw it that way myself up until my secondary school education, where I was initially puzzled that my science teacher kept making references to 'heat' but never to 'cold'). He likewise saw 'wetness' and 'dryness' as distinct entities, rather than 'dry' simply meaning 'not wet'.

As the concepts of 'hot', 'cold' 'wetness' and 'dryness' formed an integral part of his four-elements model, attempts to link his elements directly with the four states of matter that are currently recognised by science might be a step too far. However there are, of course, clearly some analogies.

[Atheist]

Aristotle didn't disover anything, he simply theorised, trying to make some sense of the world.

[ScienceNoob]

There are more than four states of matter though.

[Buenchico]

^^^ Only if you include Bose-Einstein condensates, ScienceNoob, which don't occur in nature.

[Old_Geezer]

There's more than five.

He may have based the idea on states plus flame, but they would be fairly obvious so it'd be pushing it to say he discovered them.

[1ozzy]

Aristotle, Aristotle was a *** for the bottle

[ScienceNoob]

Bose-Einstein condensates can occur naturally. It's just that you need extreme conditions on Earth. But there is also liquid crystal, superfluid, glass... it depends on how you count.

Also "plasma = fire" is wrong, they have nothing to do with each other.