11Introduction
1.2.5 Empty versus Occupied Space
The concept of space is another difcult concept in Aristotle’s physics. The
preconditions of motion are “place, void, and time.” Unlike 3D space occu-
pied by a body, “place” was considered a 2D boundary surface. Aristotle did
not believe in empty space and suggested that, in a vacuum, if it could exist,
terrestrial bodies would move with innite velocity to the natural spaces of
the element of which they are composed. The concept of space was contro-
versial already in ancient times. Thus, one of Zeno’s paradoxes was that “if
everything that exists has a place, place too will have a place, and so on ad
innitum.” Newton believed in absolute space (and the existence of inertial
frames of references ...