Theory and fact
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ed Poor (talk | contribs) at 16:19, April 9, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.
A theory is an explanation of something, and a scientific theory is a special kind of explanation.
A fact is a particular observation or set of observations. For example:
- this specimen is light blue and weights 2.4 pounds
- the specific gravity of cooking oil is 0.925
In some discussions about science, advocates have occasionally indicated their belief that a certain theory "is a fact". Naturally they do not mean that an explanation and an observation are the same thing, but that they are quite certain that the theory in questions is "factual", i.e., true.