We explain what a scientific theory is and its characteristics. Also, differences between law, hypothesis and scientific theory.
What is a scientific theory?
A scientific theory It is a body of concepts, abstractions and rules obtained from observation and experimentation with empirical reality. Formulates the principles from which the phenomena of reality can be explained.
In simpler terms, these are the explanations formulated from scientific knowledge through which a determined set of observations and concepts obtained in an empirical, objective and verifiable manner can be organized. This concept should not be confused with that of scientific law, much less with that of scientific hypothesis.
Scientific theories are the main foundation of scientific knowledge. Contrary to what their name suggests, they are not mere speculations or assumptions, but rather They are supported and proven explanations which improve as time passes and the phenomenon they describe is better understood.
Therefore, scientific theories represent the culmination of scientific thinking, that is, the most rigorous, reliable and complete form of knowledge that science allows.
Scientific theories are classified into two types:
- Phenomenological theories. Those that try to describe natural phenomena, to establish quantifiable laws according to their behaviors. They are based on direct observation and data collection without “contaminating” the study with metaphysical, essentialist assumptions or the will of the researcher.
- Representative theories. Those that try to find the essence of the phenomena studied, that is, that which bases their laws and their nature, going to the “bottom” and the why of things.
Characteristics of a scientific theory
Scientific theories have the following characteristics:
- They are systematic explanations that is, a system of postulates and premises from which empirical laws, that is, theorems, can be deduced. This can also be understood as a deductive arrangement of laws and axioms, which have a logical and verifiable relationship with each other.
- They can have a logical and abstract form equipped with axioms, rules and deductions, or they may consist of definitions . Rarely, however, are they formulated in such a structured and organized manner.
- These are mental or imaginary constructions, but not assumptions or inventions, but rather are strongly supported in observation, experimental replication and empirical verification.
- They have nothing to do with subjective evaluations, aesthetic positions or with the will of the researchers themselves, but rather They are guided by objectivity and the scientific method .
- They are usually updated over time as scientific knowledge is perfected and new instruments are invented.
Scientific knowledge
Scientific knowledge is that which is obtained through the application of the scientific method that is, the compilation of verifiable facts supported by evidence, collected by different scientific theories.
It is a organized, verifiable, objective and empirical knowledge that is, it does not take into consideration the subjectivities of the person. Their ideas can be tested, tried and reproduced, always yielding the same results and always arriving at the same conclusions.
Thus, scientific theories, which are organized and deductively complete sets of scientific propositions, are the definitive form of scientific knowledge.
Differences between hypotheses, law and scientific theory
These three terms are often used interchangeably, even though they represent different moments and different stages of scientific knowledge. It is therefore advisable to define each one separately to understand their differences.
- The scientific hypotheses. Suppose an unexpected phenomenon occurs, and scientists, drawing on their understanding of the known laws of nature, rush to propose reasons why and how the phenomenon occurs. These assumptions are obviously rational and informed, and constitute scientific hypotheses. Some will be true, others will not, and this will be defined through experimentation.
- Scientific laws. Continuing with the previous example, we know that scientists will try to describe how the unexpected phenomenon occurs, measure it, examine it, obtain empirical information from it, in order to better understand it. These verifiable, objective observations, subsequently reproduced in laboratories and expressed in appropriate language (for example, mathematically, that is, through formulas), will constitute a law: something that always occurs, in a measurable, verifiable, reproducible way.
- Scientific theories. The final step in our example will be taken by scientists who, by studying the laws that describe the unexpected phenomenon, will be able to approach a conceptual, systematic and deductive model of the reason for the unexpected phenomenon. They will relate what is described by the laws, the concepts they entail, to finally find a satisfactory and general explanation for the unexpected phenomenon, which will become part of accepted scientific knowledge.
Examples of scientific theories
Some examples of scientific theories are the following:
- Heliocentric theory. Also known as the Copernican model, it is the astronomical theory that places the Sun as the center of the Solar System (initially of the universe) and assumes it as a more or less fixed point around which the planets, the Earth among them, rotate. This theory replaced medieval geocentrism, which assumed the Earth was the center of the universe and the other stars rotating around it.
- Evolutionary theory. The theory of evolution is the scientific model that explains the origin of species and their gradual change over time, as an adaptive response (both physical and genetic) to the changes that have occurred around them. It is a theory inherited from the scientific formulations of Charles Darwin and that is based on the existence of a “natural selection” that favors certain species and sentences others to extinction, depending on which one has adapted better to the present environment.
- Atomic theory. This chemical model of matter understands it as a structural organization of virtually indivisible particles, known as atoms, which exist in large quantities in the universe, but of which there are a finite number of categories. That is, there is a finite set of elements (atoms) whose combinations generate the different types of matter that exist, including organic matter and that of our bodies.
- Theory of relativity. Formulated by the German physicist Albert Einstein in the 20th century, this physical model encompasses both the Theory of Special Relativity and the Theory of General Relativity, the work of the same author, through which the scientist attempted to resolve the incompatibility between Newtonian mechanics. or classical, and electromagnetism. Its fundamental precept is that space and time form the same continuum, within which the events of reality take place, but that these are always relative to the state of movement of the observer (hence its name). In this he broke with traditional considerations that assumed time and space as fixed and absolute elements.
References
- “Scientific theory” on Wikipedia.
- “What is a scientific theory?” in It's just science.
- “Hypothesis, theory and law. What is the difference?” (video) in Phantom Monitor.
- “What's the difference between a scientific law and a theory?” (video) at TED-Ed.
- “What is a Scientific Theory?” on LiveScience.
- “Scientific theory” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
