How did Giordano Bruno challenge Aristotle’s physics?

Giordano Bruno challenged Aristotelian physics by systematically dismantling its foundational principles, moving away from the traditional dualism of the era toward a monistic worldview.1

His primary challenges included:

• Rejection of a Finite Universe: While Aristotle argued that the material universe was spatially finite—positing that if stars extended to infinity, they could not complete a daily rotation around Earth—Bruno famously questioned what could possibly exist beyond a supposed boundary of space. He advocated for an infinite universe populated by innumerable worlds similar to our own.231
• Monistic Conception of Matter: Bruno rejected the traditional Aristotelian dualism that separated "form" and "matter." Instead, he proposed a monistic view where these elements are intimately united, implying a fundamental unity of all substances and the coincidence of opposites within an infinite Being.1
• Public Opposition: Bruno’s critique was not merely theoretical; he actively attacked the Peripatetics (followers of Aristotle) in his writings and public lectures, such as his 1586 work Centum et viginti articuli de natura et mundo adversus Peripateticos ("120 Articles on Nature and the World Against the Peripatetics").1

By challenging these core tenets, Bruno moved beyond the rigid Scholastic principles of his time, anticipating modern scientific perspectives on the nature of the universe.31