The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding Methodology (also called manner) is defined as "the analysis of the principles of methods rules and postulates employed by a discipline" Debate ( American English) or debating ( British English) is a formal method of interactive and position representational Argument.

In science a theory is a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise verified through empirical observation. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. Natural World (formerly The World About Us) is the longest-running Nature documentary strand on British television A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any observable occurrence In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. For the scientist, "theory" is not in any way an antonym of "fact". A scientist, in the broadest sense refers to any person that engages in a systematic activity to acquire Knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices In Lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male: female, long: short For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theories commonly used to describe and explain this behavior are Newton's theory of universal gravitation (see also gravitation), and the general theory of relativity. Newton 's law of universal Gravitation is a physical law describing the gravitational attraction between bodies with mass Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916

In common usage, the word theory is often used to signify a conjecture, an opinion, a speculation, or a hypothesis. In Mathematics, a conjecture is a Mathematical statement which appears resourceful but has not been formally proven to be true under the rules of An opinion is a Person 's Ideas and thoughts towards something which it is either impossible to verify the truth of or the truth of which is thought unimportant to Speculation, in a financial context is making an investment that increases the overall risk in a portfolio A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. Generally a fact is defined as something that is true something that actually exists or something that can be verified according to an established standard of evaluation The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality Reality, in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist" This usage of theory leads to the common incorrect statements. True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements which would be true independently of what people think about them. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge

According to the National Academy of Sciences,

Some scientific explanations are so well established that no new evidence is likely to alter them. The explanation becomes a scientific theory. In everyday language a theory means a hunch or speculation. Not so in science. In science, the word theory refers to a comprehensive explanation of an important feature of nature that is supported by many facts gathered over time. Theories also allow scientists to make predictions about as yet unobserved phenomena. ^[1]

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Science 2.1 The term theoretical 2.2 In physics 2.3 Currently unverifiable theories 2.4 Theories as "models" 2.4.1 Purpose 2.4.2 Description and prediction 2.4.3 Assumptions to formulate a theory 2.4.3.1 Example: Special Theory of Relativity 2.4.3.2 Example: Ptolemy 2.4.4 Differences between theory and model 2.5 Characteristics 2.5.1 Essential criteria 2.5.2 Non-essential criteria 2.5.3 Indistinguishable theories 2.5.4 Criterion for scientific status 3 Mathematics 4 Other fields 5 List of notable theories 6 Scientific laws 7 Notes 8 References 9 See also

Etymology

English attested since 1592, from Greek theoria (Jerome), Greek "contemplation, speculation", from "spectator", thea - "a view" + horan - "to see. Theoria (Greek) is Greek for Contemplation or 'the perception of Beauty regarded as a Moral faculty' ( OED) ", literally "looking at a show". ^[2] There is a second possible etymology that traces the word back to to theion (divine things) instead of thea, reflecting the concept of contemplating the divine organisation (Cosmos) of the nature. In its most general sense a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system

Science

In scientific usage, a theory does not mean an unsubstantiated guess or hunch, as it can in everyday speech. A theory is a logically self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of a related set of natural or social phenomena. Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. It originates from or is supported by experimental evidence (see scientific method). In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena In this sense, a theory is a systematic and formalized expression of all previous observations, and is predictive, logical, and testable. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. In principle, scientific theories are always tentative, and subject to corrections, inclusion in a yet wider theory, or succession. Commonly, many more specific hypotheses may be logically bound together by just one or two theories. A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible As a rule for use of the term, theories tend to deal with much broader sets of universals than do hypotheses, which ordinarily deal with much more specific sets of phenomena or specific applications of a theory.

Of several competing theories, one theory may be superior to another in terms of its approximation of reality. Scientific tests of the quality of a theory include its conformity to known facts and its ability to generate hypotheses with outcomes that would predict further testable facts.

A difference in usage of the word "fact" contributes to confusion in regard to the meaning of "theory. " An appreciation of the various meanings of "fact" and "knowledge" can help to clarify an understanding of the meanings of "theory. " (See also: relativity of knowledge, under Relativism. Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism, Cultural relativism, and Cognitive relativism. )

The term theoretical

The term theoretical is sometimes informally used in lieu of hypothetical to describe a result which is predicted by theory but has not yet been adequately tested by observation or experiment. Observation is either an activity of a living being (such as a Human) which senses and assimilates the Knowledge of a Phenomenon, or the recording of data In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or It is not uncommon for a theory to produce predictions which are later confirmed or proven incorrect by experiment. By inference, a prediction proved incorrect by experiment demonstrates that the hypothesis is invalid. This either means the theory is incorrect or that the experimental conjecture was wrong and the theory did not predict the hypothesis.

In physics

In physics the term theory is generally used for a mathematical framework—derived from a small set of basic principles (usually symmetries - like equality of locations in space or in time, or identity of electrons, etc. Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. )—which is capable of producing experimental predictions for a given category of physical systems. A good example is classical electromagnetism, which encompasses the results which can be derived from gauge symmetry (sometimes called gauge invariance) in a form of a few equations called Maxwell's equations. Classical electromagnetism (or classical electrodynamics) is a theory of Electromagnetism that was developed over the course of the 19th century most prominently Gauge theory is a peculiar Quantum field theory where the Lagrangian is invariant under certain transformations Gauge theory is a peculiar Quantum field theory where the Lagrangian is invariant under certain transformations In Classical electromagnetism, Maxwell's equations are a set of four Partial differential equations that describe the properties of the electric Note that the specific theoretical aspects of classical electromagnetic theory, which have been consistently and successfully replicated for well over a century, are termed "laws of electromagnetism", reflecting the fact that they are today taken for granted. Within electromagnetic theory generally, there are numerous hypotheses about how electromagnetism applies to specific situations. Many of these hypotheses are already considered to be adequately tested, with new ones always in the making and perhaps untested as yet.

Currently unverifiable theories

The term theory is regularly stretched to refer to speculation which is currently unverifiable. Examples are string theory and various theories of everything. String theory is a still-developing scientific approach to Theoretical physics, whose original building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings A theory of everything ( TOE) is a putative Theory of Theoretical physics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena In the strict sense, the term theory should only be used when describing a model that is derived from experimental evidence and is provable (or disprovable). It is considered sufficient for the model to be in principle testable at some undetermined point in the future.

Theories as "models"

Purpose

Theories are constructed in order to explain, predict and master phenomena (e. g. inanimate things, events, or the behaviour of animals). In many instances we are constructing models of reality. Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. Reality, in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist" A theory makes generalizations about observations and consists of an interrelated, coherent set of ideas and models.

Description and prediction

According to Stephen Hawking in A Brief History of Time, "a theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model which contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations". Stephen William Hawking CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA (born 8 January 1942 is a British theoretical physicist. A Brief History of Time is a Popular science Book written by Stephen Hawking and first published by the Bantam Dell Publishing Group He goes on to state, "any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis; you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the result will not contradict the theory. On the other hand, you can disprove a theory by finding even a single observation which disagrees with the predictions of the theory". The "unprovable by falsifiable" nature of theories is a consequence of the necessity of using inductive logic. Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of Reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed

Assumptions to formulate a theory

This is a view shared by Isaac Asimov. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian In Understanding Physics, Asimov spoke of theories as "arguments" where one deduces a "scheme" or model. Arguments or theories always begin with some premises—"arbitrary elements" as Hawking calls them (see above)—which are here described as "assumptions". An assumption according to Asimov is

something accepted without proof, and it is incorrect to speak of an assumption as either true or false, since there is no way of proving it to be either (If there were, it would no longer be an assumption). It is better to consider assumptions as either useful or useless, depending on whether deductions made from them corresponded to reality. . . . On the other hand, it seems obvious that assumptions are the weak points in any argument, as they have to be accepted on faith in a philosophy of science that prides itself on its rationalism. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Since we must start somewhere, we must have assumptions, but at least let us have as few assumptions as possible.

(See Occam's Razor)

Example: Special Theory of Relativity

As an example of the use of assumptions to formulate a theory, consider how Albert Einstein put forth his Special Theory of Relativity. Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English Logician and Franciscan Friar, Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical Special relativity (SR (also known as the special theory of relativity or STR) is the Physical theory of Measurement in Inertial He took two phenomena which had been observed — that the "addition of velocities" is valid (Galilean transformation), and that light did not appear to have an "addition of velocities" (Michelson-Morley experiment). The Galilean transformation is used to transform between the coordinates of two Reference frames which differ only by constant relative motion within the constructs of Newtonian The Michelson–Morley experiment, one of the most important and famous experiments in the History of physics, was performed in 1887 by Albert Michelson and He assumed both observations to be correct, and formulated his theory, based on these assumptions, by simply altering the Galilean transformation to accommodate the lack of addition of velocities with regard to the speed of light. The model created in his theory is, therefore, based on the assumption that light maintains a constant velocity (or more commonly: the speed of light is a constant).

Example: Ptolemy

An example of how theories are models can be seen from theories on the planetary system. The Greeks formulated theories which were recorded by the astronomer Ptolemy. Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca In Ptolemy's planetary model, the earth was at the center, the planets and the sun made circular orbits around the earth, and the stars were on a sphere outside of the orbits of the planet and the earth. Retrograde motion of the planets was explained by smaller circular orbits of individual planets. Direct motion is the motion of a Planetary body in a direction similar to that of other bodies within its system and is sometimes called prograde motion. This could be illustrated as a model, and could even be built into a literal model. Mathematical calculations could be made which predicted, to a great degree of accuracy, where the planets would be. His model of the planetary system survived for over 1500 years until the time of Copernicus. So one can see that a theory is a "model of reality," one which explains certain scientific facts; yet the theory may not be a satisfactory picture of reality. Another, more acceptable, theory can later replace the previous model, as when the Copernican theory replaced the Ptolemaic theory. Or a new theory can be used to modify an older theory as when Einstein modified Newtonian mechanics (which is still used for designing bridges and gasoline engines) with his theories of relativity.

Differences between theory and model

Central to the nature of models, from general models to scale models, is the employment of representation (literally, "re-presentation") to describe particular aspects of a phenomenon or the manner of interaction among a set of phenomena. For instance, a scale model of a house or of a solar system is clearly not an actual house or an actual solar system; the aspects of an actual house or an actual solar system represented in a scale model are, only in certain limited ways, representative of the actual entity. In most ways that matter, the scale model of a house is not a house. Several commentators (e. g. , Reese & Overton 1970; Lerner, 1998; Lerner & Teti, 2005, in the context of modeling human behavior) have stated that the important difference between theories and models is that the first is explanatory as well as descriptive, while the second is only descriptive (although still predictive in a more limited sense). General models and theories, according to philosopher Stephen Pepper (1948)—who also distinguishes between theories and models—are predicated on a "root" metaphor which constrains how scientists theorize and model a phenomenon and thus arrive at testable hypotheses.

In engineering practice, a distinction is made between "mathematical models" and "physical models".

Characteristics

The difference between science and unscientific nonsense was well caught in Wolfgang Pauli's famous comment on a paper he was shown: "This isn't right. It's not even wrong. An apparently scientific argument is said to be not even wrong if it is based on assumptions that are known to be incorrect or alternately theories which cannot possibly "

Essential criteria

The defining characteristic of a scientific theory is that it makes falsifiable or testable predictions. Falsifiability (or "refutability" is the logical possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or a physical experiment The predictive power of a Scientific theory refers to its ability to generate testable predictions The relevance, and specificity of those predictions determine how (potentially) useful the theory is. A would-be theory which makes no predictions which can be observed is not a useful theory. Predictions which are not sufficiently specific to be tested are similarly not useful. In both cases, the term "theory" is inapplicable.

In practice a body of descriptions of knowledge is usually only called a theory once it has a minimum empirical basis. Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding That is, it:

• is consistent with pre-existing theory to the extent that the pre-existing theory was experimentally verified, though it will often show pre-existing theory to be wrong in an exact sense, and
• is supported by many strands of evidence rather than a single foundation, ensuring that it is probably a good approximation, if not totally correct.

Non-essential criteria

Additionally, a theory is generally only taken seriously if it:

• is tentative, correctable and dynamic, in allowing for changes to be made as new data are discovered, rather than asserting certainty, and
• is the most parsimonious explanation, sparing in proposed entities or explanations, commonly referred to as passing the Occam's razor test. Parsimony is a 'less is better' concept of frugality economy stinginess or caution in arriving at a hypothesis or course of action Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English Logician and Franciscan Friar,

This is true of such established theories as special and general relativity, quantum mechanics, plate tectonics, evolution, etc. Special relativity (SR (also known as the special theory of relativity or STR) is the Physical theory of Measurement in Inertial General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916 Quantum mechanics is the study of mechanical systems whose dimensions are close to the Atomic scale such as Molecules Atoms Electrons Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων tektōn "builder" or "mason" describes the large scale motions of Earth 's Lithosphere eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 Theories considered scientific meet at least most, but ideally all, of these extra criteria.

Theories do not have to be perfectly accurate to be scientifically useful. The predictions made by Classical mechanics are known to be inaccurate, but they are sufficiently good approximations in most circumstances that they are still very useful and widely used in place of more accurate but mathematically difficult theories. Classical mechanics is used for describing the motion of Macroscopic objects from Projectiles to parts of Machinery, as well as Astronomical objects

Indistinguishable theories

Sometimes it happens that two theories are found to make exactly the same predictions. In this case, they are indistinguishable, and the choice between them reduces to which is the more convenient.

Criterion for scientific status

Karl Popper described the characteristics of a scientific theory as follows:

1. It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory—if we look for confirmations. Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902  &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor
2. Confirmations should count only if they are the result of risky predictions; that is to say, if, unenlightened by the theory in question, we should have expected an event which was incompatible with the theory—an event which would have refuted the theory.
3. Every "good" scientific theory is a prohibition: it forbids certain things to happen. The more a theory forbids, the better it is.
4. A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non-scientific. Irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory (as people often think) but a vice.
5. Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or to refute it. Testability is falsifiability; but there are degrees of testability: some theories are more testable, more exposed to refutation, than others; they take, as it were, greater risks.
6. Confirming evidence should not count except when it is the result of a genuine test of the theory; and this means that it can be presented as a serious but unsuccessful attempt to falsify the theory. (I now speak in such cases of "corroborating evidence". )
7. Some genuinely testable theories, when found to be false, are still upheld by their admirers—for example by introducing ad hoc some auxiliary assumption, or by reinterpreting the theory ad hoc in such a way that it escapes refutation. Such a procedure is always possible, but it rescues the theory from refutation only at the price of destroying, or at least lowering, its scientific status. (I later describe such a rescuing operation as a "conventionalist twist" or a "conventionalist stratagem". )

One can sum up all this by saying that according to Popper, the criterion of the scientific status of a theory is its falsifiability, or refutability, or testability.

Several philosophers and historians of science have, however, argued that Popper's definition of theory as a set of falsifiable statements is wrong ^[3] because, as Philip Kitcher has pointed out, if one took a strictly Popperian view of "theory", observations of Uranus when first discovered in 1781 would have "falsified" Newton's celestial mechanics. Philip Stuart Kitcher (born 1947 is a British Philosophy professor who specializes in the Philosophy of science. Rather, people suggested that another planet influenced Uranus' orbit—and this prediction was indeed eventually confirmed.

Kitcher agrees with Popper that "there is surely something right in the idea that a science can succeed only if it can fail". ^[4] He also takes into account Hempel and Quine's critiques of Popper, to the effect that scientific theories include statements that cannot be falsified (presumably what Hawking alluded to as arbitrary elements), and the point that good theories must also be creative. He insists that we view scientific theories as consisting of an "elaborate collection of statements", some of which are not falsifiable, while others—those he calls "auxiliary hypotheses", are.

According to Kitcher, good scientific theories must have three features:

1. Unity: "A science should be unified…. Good theories consist of just one problem-solving strategy, or a small family of problem-solving strategies, that can be applied to a wide range of problems" (1982: 47).
2. Fecundity: "A great scientific theory, like Newton's, opens up new areas of research…. Because a theory presents a new way of looking at the world, it can lead us to ask new questions, and so to embark on new and fruitful lines of inquiry…. Typically, a flourishing science is incomplete. At any time, it raised more questions than it can currently answer. But incompleteness is not vice. On the contrary, incompleteness is the mother of fecundity…. A good theory should be productive; it should raise new questions and presume that those questions can be answered without giving up its problem-solving strategies" (1982: 47–48).
3. Auxiliary hypotheses that are independently testable: "An auxiliary hypothesis ought to be testable independently of the particular problem it is introduced to solve, independently of the theory it is designed to save" (1982: 46) (e. g. the evidence for the existence of Neptune is independent of the anomalies in Uranus's orbit).

Like other definitions of theories, including Popper's, Kitcher makes it clear that a good theory includes statements that have (in his terms) "observational consequences". But, like the observation of irregularities in the orbit of Uranus, falsification is only one possible consequence of observation. The production of new hypotheses is another possible—and equally important—observational consequence.

Mathematics

In mathematics, the word theory is used informally to refer to certain distinct bodies of knowledge about mathematics. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and This knowledge consists of axioms, definitions, theorems and computational techniques, all related in some way by tradition or practice. Examples include group theory, set theory, Lebesgue integration theory and field theory. Group theory is a mathematical discipline the part of Abstract algebra that studies the Algebraic structures known as groups. In Mathematics, the Integral of a non-negative function can be regarded in the simplest case as the Area between the graph of

The term theory also has a precise technical usage in mathematics, particularly in mathematical logic and model theory. In Mathematical logic, a theory is a set of sentences in a Formal language. Mathematical logic is a subfield of Logic and Mathematics with close connections to Computer science and Philosophical logic. In Mathematics, model theory is the study of (classes of mathematical structures such as groups, Fields graphs or even models A theory in this sense is a set of statements in a formal language, which is closed under application of certain procedures called rules of inference. A formal language is a set of words, ie finite strings of letters, or symbols. In Mathematics, a set is said to be closed under some operation if the operation on members of the set produces a member of the set In Logic, a rule of inference (also called a transformation rule) is a function from sets of formulae to formulae A special case of this, an axiomatic theory, consists of axioms (or axiom schemata) and rules of inference. In traditional Logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evident, or subject A theorem is a statement which can be derived from those axioms by application of these rules of inference. In Mathematics, a theorem is a statement proven on the basis of previously accepted or established statements Theories used in applications are abstractions of observed phenomena and the resulting theorems provide solutions to real-world problems. --> Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information Obvious examples include arithmetic (abstracting concepts of number), geometry (concepts of space), and probability (concepts of randomness and likelihood). Arithmetic or arithmetics (from the Greek word αριθμός = number is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics used by almost everyone Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position Probability is the likelihood or chance that something is the case or will happen

Gödel's incompleteness theorem shows that no consistent, recursively enumerable theory (that is, one whose theorems form a recursively enumerable set) in which the concept of natural numbers can be expressed, can include all true statements about them. In Mathematical logic, Gödel's incompleteness theorems, proved by Kurt Gödel in 1931 are two Theorems stating inherent limitations of all but the most In Computability theory, traditionally called Recursion theory, a set S of Natural numbers is called recursively enumerable, computably In Mathematics, a natural number (also called counting number) can mean either an element of the set (the positive Integers or an The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality As a result, some domains of knowledge cannot be formalized, accurately and completely, as mathematical theories. (Here, formalizing accurately and completely means that all true propositions—and only true propositions—are derivable within the mathematical system. ) This limitation, however, in no way precludes the construction of mathematical theories which formalize large bodies of scientific knowledge.

Other fields

Theories exist not only in the so-called hard sciences, but in all fields of academic study, from philosophy to music to literature. In Science, the term natural science refers to a naturalistic approach to the study of the Universe, which is understood as obeying rules or law of

In the humanities, theory is often used as an abbreviation for critical theory or literary theory. The humanities are academic disciplines which study the Human condition, using methods that are primarily Analytic, Critical, or Speculative In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of Literature and of the methods for analyzing literature

List of notable theories

• Astronomy: Big Bang Theory
• Biology: Cell theory — Evolution
• Chemistry: Atomic theory — Kinetic theory of gases
• Climatology: Theory of Global Climate Change (due to anthropogenic activity)
• Computer science: Algorithmic information theory — Computation theory
• Economics: Decision theory
• Education: Constructivist theory — Critical pedagogy theory — Education theory — Multiple intelligence theory — Progressive education theory
• Engineering: Circuit theory — Control theory — Signal theory — Systems theory
• Film: Film Theory
• Games: Game theory — Rational choice theory
• Geology: Plate tectonics^[5]
• Humanities: Critical theory
• Literature: Literary theory
• Mathematics: Catastrophe theory — Category theory — Chaos theory — Graph theory — Knot theory — Number theory — Probability theory — Set theory
• Music: Music theory
• Philosophy: Proof theory — Speculative reason — Theory of truth — Type theory — Value theory — Virtue theory
• Physics: Acoustic theory — Antenna theory — General relativity — Special relativity — Theory of relativity — Quantum field theory
• Planetary science: Giant impact theory
• Visual Art: Aesthetics — Art Educational theory — Architecture — Composition — Anatomy — Color theory — Perspective — Visual perception — Geometry — Manifolds
• Sociology: Sociological theory — Social theory — Critical theory
• Statistics : Extreme value theory
• Theatre : Theory relating to theatrical performance. Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study The Big Bang is the cosmological model of the Universe that is best supported by all lines of scientific evidence and Observation. Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles Cell Theory refers to the idea that cells are the basic unit of structure in every living thing eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties This article focuses on the historical models of the atom For a history of the study of how atoms combine to form molecules see History of the molecule. Kinetic theory (or kinetic theory of gases) attempts to explain Macroscopic properties of Gases such as pressure temperature or volume by considering Climatology (from Greek grc κλίμα klima, "region zone" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of Climate, scientifically Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Algorithmic information theory is a subfield of Information theory and Computer science that concerns itself with the relationship between computation Computation is a general term for any type of Information processing. Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Decision theory in Mathematics and Statistics is concerned with identifying the Values uncertainties and other issues relevant in a given Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency Constructivism is a psychological theory of knowledge ( Epistemology) which argues that humans construct knowledge and meaning from their experiences Critical pedagogy is a teaching approach which attempts to help students question and challenge Domination, and the beliefs and practices that dominate Education theory is the Theory or the Philosophy of the purpose application and interpretation of Education and Learning. The Multiple intelligences is an educational theory first developed by Howard Gardner that describes an Array of different kinds of " intelligences quot exhibited Educational progressivism is the belief that education must be based on the principle that humans are Social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and Circuit theory is the theory of accomplishing work by means of routing matter through a loop. Control theory is an interdisciplinary branch of Engineering and Mathematics, that deals with the behavior of Dynamical systems The desired output See also Signalling theory, a concept in Evolutionary biology Signal theory is the theory of the Engineering discipline Systems theory is an Interdisciplinary field of Science and the study of the nature of Complex systems in Nature, Society, and Film theory debates the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to Reality, the other Arts individual A game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for Enjoyment and sometimes also used as an Educational tool Game theory is a branch of Applied mathematics that is used in the Social sciences (most notably Economics) Biology, Engineering, Rational choice theory, also known as rational action theory, is a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων tektōn "builder" or "mason" describes the large scale motions of Earth 's Lithosphere The humanities are academic disciplines which study the Human condition, using methods that are primarily Analytic, Critical, or Speculative In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of Literature and of the methods for analyzing literature Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and This article refers to the study of dynamical systems For other meanings see Catastrophe. In Mathematics, category theory deals in an abstract way with mathematical Structures and relationships between them it abstracts from sets In Mathematics, chaos theory describes the behavior of certain dynamical systems – that is systems whose state evolves with time – that may exhibit dynamics that In Mathematics and Computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs: mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects In Mathematics, knot theory is the area of Topology that studies mathematical knots While inspired by knots which appear in daily life in shoelaces Number theory is the branch of Pure mathematics concerned with the properties of Numbers in general and Integers in particular as well as the wider classes Probability theory is the branch of Mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Music theory is the field of study that deals with the Mechanics of music and how Music works Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Proof theory is a branch of Mathematical logic that represents proofs as formal Mathematical objects facilitating their analysis by mathematical techniques Speculative reason or pure reason is theoretical (or Logical deductive) thought (sometimes called theoretical reason as opposed to practical (active The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality In Mathematics, Logic and Computer science, type theory is any of several Formal systems that can serve as alternatives to Naive set theory Value theory encompasses a range of approaches to understanding how why and to what degree humans should or do value things whether the thing is a person idea object or anything else Virtue theory is a branch of Moral philosophy that emphasizes character rather than rules or consequences as the key element of ethical thinking Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. Acoustic theory is the field relating to mathematical description of Sound Waves. An antenna is a Transducer designed to transmit or Receive electromagnetic waves In other words antennas convert electromagnetic waves into General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916 Special relativity (SR (also known as the special theory of relativity or STR) is the Physical theory of Measurement in Inertial This page is about the scientific concept of relativity for philosophical or sociological theories about relativity see Relativism. In quantum field theory (QFT the forces between particles are mediated by other particles Planetary science, also known as planetology and closely related to planetary astronomy, is the Science of Planets or Planetary systems The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily Visual in nature such as Painting, Photography Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called For general education in the broad range of Arts see Arts education, for education in the Performing arts see Performing arts education The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation In the Visual arts — in particular Painting, Graphic design, Photography and Sculpture — composition is the placement or arrangement Anatomy (from the Greek anatomia, from ana separate apart from and temnein, to cut up cut open is a branch of Biology that is the consideration Color Theory is the musical alter ego of American singer-keyboardist-songwriter Brian Hazard Perspective (from Latin perspicere to see through in the graphic arts such as drawing is an approximate representation on a flat surface (such as paper of an image as it is perceived In Psychology, visual perception is the ability to interpret information from Visible light reaching the Eyes The resulting Perception is also Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position A manifold is a mathematical space in which every point has a neighborhood which resembles Euclidean space, but in which the global structure may be Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Sociological Theory is a peer-reviewed journal published by Blackwell Publishing for the American Sociological Association since 1983 Social theory is an essential tool used by scholars in the analysis of society through the use of theoretical frameworks social structures and phenomena are analyzed and placed in context The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist Critical theory, Social research, and Philosophy. Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. Extreme value theory is a branch of Statistics dealing with the extreme Deviations from the Median of Probability distributions The general Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one
• Other: Obsolete scientific theories — Phlogiston theory

Scientific laws

Main article: Scientific law

Scientific laws are similar to scientific theories in that they are principles which can be used to predict the behavior of the natural world. superseded, or obsolete scientific theory is a Scientific theory that was once commonly accepted but that is no longer considered the most complete description of The phlogiston theory (from the Ancient Greek φλογιστόν phlŏgistón "burning up" from φλόξ phlóx "fire" first stated A scientific law is a statement that describes the behavior of some particular thing or set of things within the natural world, with an adequately thorough history of successful Both scientific laws and scientific theories are typically well-supported by observations and/or experimental evidence. Usually scientific laws refer to rules for how nature will behave under certain conditions. ^[6] Scientific theories are more overarching explanations of how nature works and why it exhibits certain characteristics.

Notes

1. ^ National Academy of Sciences (2005), Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a brochure on the book of the same title. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS is a corporation in the United States whose members serve Pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science
2. ^ Frisk; derivation from ?e?? was suggested by Koller Glotta 36, 273ff. Theos may refer to Theos ( is the Greek word for " Deity, God " see God (word, Names of God
3. ^ Hempel. C. G. 1951 "Problems and Changes in the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning" in Aspects of Scientific Explanation. Glencoe: the Free Press. Quine, W. V. O 1952 "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" reprinted in From a Logical Point of View. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
4. ^ Philip Kitcher 1982 Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism. Page 45 Cambridge: The MIT Press
5. ^ The theory of plate tectonics is also called the theory of continental drift. Continental drift is the movement of the Earth 's Continents relative to each other
6. ^ See the article on Physical law, for example. A physical law or scientific law is a Scientific generalization based on empirical Observations of physical behavior (i

References

• Popper, Karl (1963), Conjectures and Refutations, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, UK, pp. Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902  &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor 33–39. Reprinted in Theodore Schick (ed. Theodore Schick is an author in the field of Philosophy. His articles have appeared in numerous publications and include topics such as Functionalism and its effect , 2000), Readings in the Philosophy of Science, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, CA, pp. 9–13.
• Chairman of Biology and Kennesaw State Ronald Matson's webpage comparing scientific laws and theories
• Hawking, Stephen (1996). "The Illustrated A Brief History of Time" (Updated and expanded ed. ). New York: Bantam Books, p. 15.
• Mohr, Johnathon (2008). Mohr is a German language surname and may refer to Bill Mohr (1909–1971 an Australian rules footballer Charles Mohr (1824–1901 "Revelations and Implications of the Failure of Pragmatism: The Hijacking of Knowledge Creation by the Ivory Tower". New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 87-192.

See also

This is a list of topics commonly referred to as "___ theory" Falsifiability (or "refutability" is the logical possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or a physical experiment A formal language is a set of words, ie finite strings of letters, or symbols. In formal logic, a formal system (also called a logical system, a logistic system, or simply a logic Formal systems in mathematics consist A hypothesis (from Greek) consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon (an event that is observable or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible A statistical hypothesis test is a method of making statistical decisions using experimental data Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. The predictive power of a Scientific theory refers to its ability to generate testable predictions Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Testability, a property applying to an Empirical Hypothesis, involves two components (1 the logical property that is variously described as Contingency

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