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A common misconception is that scientific theories are rudimentary ideas that will eventually graduate into scientific laws when enough data and evidence have been accumulated. A theory does not change into a scientific law with the accumulation of new or better evidence. A theory will always remain a theory; a law will always remain a law.
The term "scientific law" is traditionally associated with the natural sciences, though the social sciences also contain laws. [11] For example, Zipf's law is a law in the social sciences which is based on mathematical statistics. In these cases, laws may describe general trends or expected behaviors rather than being absolutes.
Law. A law is a principle that helps to explain the natural world, often provided in the form of an equation. There is a common misunderstanding that a scientific law is higher in some hierarchy than a scientific theory and that a theory may eventually become a law if it gets enough support. That is wrong.
Phrenology – a theory of highly localised brain function popular in 19th century medicine. Homeopathy – a theory according to which a disease can be cured by infinitesimal doses of the substance that caused it; Eclectic medicine – transformed into alternative medicine, and is no longer considered a scientific theory
A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world. The theory of biological evolution is more than "just a theory."
The implication flows in only one direction, as in the syllogism used in the discussion on deduction. Therefore, it is never correct to say that a scientific principle or hypothesis/theory has been "proven" in the rigorous sense of proof used in deductive systems. A classic example of this is the study of gravitation.
Artin reciprocity law is a general theorem in number theory that forms a central part of global class field theory. Named after Emil Artin . Ashby's law of requisite variety, that the number of states in a control mechanism must be greater than or equal to the number of states in the system it controls.
Scientific evidence is evidence that serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis, [1] although scientists also use evidence in other ways, such as when applying theories to practical problems. [2] Such evidence is expected to be empirical evidence and interpretable in accordance with the scientific method.