I am back
after a long hiatus. Todays topic ladies and gentlemen is what is scientific
theory. I have been having very lively discussions with my friends the past few
months now and one thing i have begin to realize is that it seems people do not
have a clear idea what its means when we say something is scientific theory and
when we use this word in colloquial English.
So what is
theory in the English language, according to Wikipedia a Theory is a
contemplative and rational type of abstract or generalizing thinking, or the
results of such thinking. Depending on the context, the results might for
example include generalized explanations of how nature works. The word has its
roots in ancient Greek, but in modern use it has taken on several different
related meanings. A theory is not the same as hypothesis. A theory provides an
explanatory framework for some observation, and from the assumptions of the
explanation follows a number of possible hypotheses that can be tested in order
to provide support for, or challenge, the theory.
A scientific theory on the other hand is a
well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on
knowledge that has been repeatedly confirmed through observation and
experimentation Scientists create scientific theories from hypotheses that have
been corroborated through the scientific method, then gather evidence to test
their accuracy. As with all forms of scientific knowledge, scientific theories
are inductive in nature and aim for predictive and explanatory force.
Robert Koch a
German in the 1870s was the first of offer convincing proof that microbes can
be associated with disease, and hence the germ theory was born. It was from 18
75 to the early 1900 that science started to explore disease from this
perspective and bacteria came to the fore. It took many years more before
viruses, viroid, and prions were discovered.
So what was
happening before the germ theory emerged, well people believed in the ideas of
spontaneous generation or bio genesis. The idea of spontaneous generation is
the belief that living organisms can develop from non-living materials or from
different types of organisms i.e. geese from barnacles etc. Bio genesis is the
idea that all living organisms are derived from living organisms of the same
type.
Scientists
started working to refute these ideas as early as the 1600s and the germ theory
did not emerge until the late 1800s so this can give us an idea about how long
it takes a scientific theory to emerge. It requires rigorous testing and re
testing and looking at the evidence again and again and again before any
concrete causation is inferred from the data.
Francesco
Redi in the mid-1600s refuted spontaneous generation of macroscopic organisms
by demonstration that maggots don't generate from meat in fact from fly. IT was
the discovery of the microscope and further experimentation by different
scientists over the next two centuries that finally managed to topple the ideas
of spontaneous generation and bio genesis.
In conclusion
I just want to say that science has always been looked on with fear and this
has happened through the ages so some ideas have become so embedded in our
collective conscience and cultures that we do not think much about espousing to
them again and again even in the face of over whelming evidence. Science is a
tool for humanity and it has over the centuries helped us to achieve amazing
things. It is true that some of its advances had not been wonderful but as i
said it is a tool it is up to us to use it for better or for worse.
