(Culled from National Geographic): Thats what scientists mean when they talk about a theory: not a dreamy and unreliable speculation, but an explanatory statement that fits the evidence. Evolution by natural selection, the central concept of the lifes work of Charles Darwin, is a theory. Its a theory about the origin of adaptation, complexity, and diversity among Earths living creatures. If you are skeptical by nature, unfamiliar with the terminology of science, and unaware of the overwhelming evidence, you might even be tempted to say that its just a theory. In the same sense, relativity as described by Albert Einstein is just a theory. The notion that Earth orbits around the sun rather than vice versa, offered by Copernicus in 1543, is a theory. Continental drift is a theory. The existence, structure, and dynamics of atoms? Atomic theory. Even electricity is a theoretical construct, involving electrons, which are tiny units of charged mass that no one has ever seen. Each of these theories is an explanation that has been confirmed to such a degree, by observation and experiment, that knowledgeable experts accept it as fact. Thats what scientists mean when they talk about a theory: not a dreamy and unreliable speculation, but an explanatory statement that fits the evidence. They embrace such an explanation confidently but provisionally—taking it as their best available view of reality, at least until some severely conflicting data or some better explanation might come along.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:29:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015