Newton's theory
Does this mean that Newton's theory of gravity is now wrong? Well, yes, ... but it was mostly correct. In fact, Newton's theory correctly describes how gravity will behave in our everyday world. It just wasn't a complete theory ... it didn't explain black holes.
Another example of a theory that is not perfect, but is mostly correct, is the simple set of equations that detemine how fast something is moving. To find an object's speed, you divide the distance travelled by the time it took. For example, if it is 80 km to the nearest town, and it takes you 1 hour to get there, your average speed was 80 km/h. This is so obvious, that most people would consider it to be universally true.
But of course it's not. It's only an incomplete description of how things move. It's almost totally correct. What it does not explain properly is motion that is very fast ... at speeds approaching the speed of light. A better theory by Albert Einstein, which accepted all of the old description as being true, but for low speeds , also explained speeds must faster than normal experience would make us familiar with.
Do you see what we're getting at here? Just because a theory is not 100% correct, does not make it 100% wrong! In fact, most current theories in science that are decades or centuries old are probably mostly correct ... we just haven't finished them yet! The very process of scientific enquiry ensures that theories will always be reexamined and added to, as new facts emerge. But the old theories are not thrown out ... they continue to be accepted as useful, and mostly correct, with the new ideas included to make them stronger.
A perfect example of how this idea of a 'theory' is misunderstood is the popularization of the theory of evolution. Despite the fact that this theory has been around, and generally accepted by most scientists as being mostly correct, for over a hundred years, and is the foundation of many branches of current biological science, people who do not understand what a theory is, who do not understand evolution and as a result, don't accept it, will attempt to disparage it by describing it as 'only a theory'. The fact that current work in the field of evolutionary theory is adding to our understanding of the theory is described by saying 'It must be wrong ... they're changing it!'
Of course, having read this far, you now know that, just because evolution is a 'theory', and is constantly being refined, it is not the case that it is wrong. We accept that it is a mostly correct way of describing how life changes and better adapts to its environment over many millions of years. It's not a complete theory. But that doesn't mean it can't be nearly right.
Another example of a theory that is not perfect, but is mostly correct, is the simple set of equations that detemine how fast something is moving. To find an object's speed, you divide the distance travelled by the time it took. For example, if it is 80 km to the nearest town, and it takes you 1 hour to get there, your average speed was 80 km/h. This is so obvious, that most people would consider it to be universally true.
But of course it's not. It's only an incomplete description of how things move. It's almost totally correct. What it does not explain properly is motion that is very fast ... at speeds approaching the speed of light. A better theory by Albert Einstein, which accepted all of the old description as being true, but for low speeds , also explained speeds must faster than normal experience would make us familiar with.
Do you see what we're getting at here? Just because a theory is not 100% correct, does not make it 100% wrong! In fact, most current theories in science that are decades or centuries old are probably mostly correct ... we just haven't finished them yet! The very process of scientific enquiry ensures that theories will always be reexamined and added to, as new facts emerge. But the old theories are not thrown out ... they continue to be accepted as useful, and mostly correct, with the new ideas included to make them stronger.
A perfect example of how this idea of a 'theory' is misunderstood is the popularization of the theory of evolution. Despite the fact that this theory has been around, and generally accepted by most scientists as being mostly correct, for over a hundred years, and is the foundation of many branches of current biological science, people who do not understand what a theory is, who do not understand evolution and as a result, don't accept it, will attempt to disparage it by describing it as 'only a theory'. The fact that current work in the field of evolutionary theory is adding to our understanding of the theory is described by saying 'It must be wrong ... they're changing it!'
Of course, having read this far, you now know that, just because evolution is a 'theory', and is constantly being refined, it is not the case that it is wrong. We accept that it is a mostly correct way of describing how life changes and better adapts to its environment over many millions of years. It's not a complete theory. But that doesn't mean it can't be nearly right.
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