Hello Rog,
>From the article you referenced:
>
Many people learned in elementary school that a theory falls in the middle
of a hierarchy of certainty--above a mere hypothesis but below a law.
Scientists do not use the terms that way, however. According to the National
Academy of Sciences (NAS), a scientific theory is "a well-substantiated
explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts,
laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses." No amount of validation changes a
theory into a law, which is a descriptive generalization about nature.
>
Does this mean, then, that in science, "theory" ranks higher than "law"? I
think there is some confused reasoning embedded in that paragraph, but it's
too early in the morning for me to unpick it...
(I speak as someone situated on the 'evolutionist' side of the evolutionist
v creationist argument - as much for theological reasons as scientific ones)
Sam
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