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To: Coyoteman
"Facts are meaningless without theories to organize them, and to give them meaning."

I think you are confusing 'theory' and 'law'.

The observable facts of gravity are organized into the 'Laws of Gravity'.

The 'Theory of Gravity' is that which predicts unobserved particles, like gravitons.

115 posted on 12/20/2006 6:07:23 AM PST by GourmetDan
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To: GourmetDan
"Facts are meaningless without theories to organize them, and to give them meaning."

I think you are confusing 'theory' and 'law'.

The observable facts of gravity are organized into the 'Laws of Gravity'.

The 'Theory of Gravity' is that which predicts unobserved particles, like gravitons.

Sorry, wrong again. Here are some appropriate definitions to help:

Theory: a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses. Theories do not grow up to be laws. Theories explain laws.

Theory: A scientifically testable general principle or body of principles offered to explain observed phenomena. In scientific usage, a theory is distinct from a hypothesis (or conjecture) that is proposed to explain previously observed phenomena. For a hypothesis to rise to the level of theory, it must predict the existence of new phenomena that are subsequently observed. A theory can be overturned if new phenomena are observed that directly contradict the theory.

When a scientific theory has a long history of being supported by verifiable evidence, it is appropriate to speak about "acceptance" of (not "belief" in) the theory; or we can say that we have "confidence" (not "faith") in the theory. It is the dependence on verifiable data and the capability of testing that distinguish scientific theories from matters of faith.

Law: a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature; "the laws of thermodynamics."

Data: Individual measurements; facts, figures, pieces of information, statistics, either historical or derived by calculation, experimentation, surveys, etc.; evidence from which conclusions can be inferred.

Fact: when an observation is confirmed repeatedly and by many independent and competent observers, it can become a fact.


118 posted on 12/20/2006 7:30:21 AM PST by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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