MEPX
Chapter 6 of 10All chapters
  1. 1The method
  2. 2Designing an experiment
  3. 3When you cannot experiment
  4. 4Measurement
  5. 5Reading a result
  6. 6Hypotheses, theories and laws
  7. 7How science is published
  8. 8Replication
  9. 9Telling it apart
  10. 10Using it yourself

Chapter 6 of 10

Hypotheses, theories and laws

Words that cause arguments.

The vocabulary

A hypothesis is a testable proposal. A theory is a well tested explanatory framework supported by many lines of evidence. A law describes a regularity without explaining it.

  • A theory does not graduate into a law; they are different kinds of statement.
  • Just a theory is a misunderstanding of the strongest term in the vocabulary.

Models

All models simplify, and are judged by usefulness rather than truth. Newtonian mechanics is wrong and is still what engineers use, because within its range it predicts well.