Intersecting Circles

These sand sculptures illustrate the theorem that, if three circles intersect at a point then you can always draw a fourth circle through the remaining points of intersection.

There are four ways in which the circles can intersect at a point, which made me think of Aristotle’s supposition that the world was made up of four elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air. In fact, this theory was first suggested in 450 BCE but Aristotle refined it by adding another element, “aether”, which held the others together. He thought that aether was necessary because he did not believe that the stars could be made from earthly matter, consequently, aether is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.

This image is my interpretation of the four elements and their combination into aether. You could not see aether, so, as an ironic twist I made aether green, because we can see more shades of this colour than any other.