Only a theory

[Michael Colton]

You can be 100% sure if you have proved a theory false. Very few can be 100% proved to be probability = 1, which is what Fact means.

It is problematic to define fact in such a way. 100% is impossible to achieve for anything - it is not what is meant by fact. Fact simply means overwhelming evidential support for something.

 

[Null_Zone]

It may be that science is in "Cognito ergo sum". (I added the "n" on purpose). What I mean is that I remember hearing somewhere that many scientists became more cautious about what they proposed as "Truth" after hearing what befell Galileo. There is still a looming presence of those in disbelief of science because of their other beliefs. So, perhaps it is wise to let sleeping giants lay, so to speak.

Can't we all just get a law?

I'm pretty sure I've read that it took at least a hundred years for Newton's Theories to become Laws. As I understand it, a hypothesis is the proposal of a theory, and becomes a theory after it has been tested, so the hypothesis must be "testable" or falsifiable as has been mentioned.

Galileo's execution had nothing to do with his ideas, rather he had an amazing ability to annoy powerful people for a wide variety of reasons. That it was finally the pope he pushed too far is pure coincidence.

Newton "laws" are provably false within our on system, much less the maths driven problems of near light speed. So perhaps a better example of law is needed.

 

[jastius]

perhaps he thought the inland sea was still there? baie comeau is the residue of an inland sea that used to traverse the continent. it would kind of explain him scooching around the jamacias. he was looking for the inlet.

Actually they didn't.
Anyone in the last 2500 years approx that worried about it at knew not only Earth is Round but approximate size. The problem was that they didn't think a Ship could carry enough food & water to get to Japan via the west. They were correct too.
Two theories.
1) Columbus was an idiot and really believed Japan was where America is.
2) He knew something like America was there, because he studied Greenland Tithe records to Vatican. The Viking Christians on Greenland (later died off) certainly knew about Newfoundland.

Actually I don't think he was an idiot. But perhaps not entirely honest as to his real intentions.

The Flat Earth thing is a later myth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_Flat_Earth
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/10-false-facts.htm/printable
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Myths_within_science
Probably Snopes debunks this too.

 

[Vertigo]

Hmm I didn't think Gallileo was executed; incarcerated for life but not executed. Or am I wrong?

 

[Michael Colton]

Hmm I didn't think Gallileo was executed; incarcerated for life but not executed. Or am I wrong?

He died at seventy-seven while under house arrest. He was not executed.

 

[BAYLOR]

The church didn't pardoned him until 1992. 350 years after his death, unbelievable.

 

[Nick B]

For many scientists around the world, the word Theory sits better than the term Law. One of the reasons for this is that (as discussed in a different thread) a Law is immutable, correct and proven beyond doubt to be real - therefore pointless to explore any more. A Theory however is an ongoing case study, a reason to experiment and think, to go places that have yet to be trodden.

The most exciting time for real science isn't when someone shouts "Eureka!", it is when they mumble "Hmm, that's strange..."

Personally I hate to think in terms of law and absolute, if a persons opinion can not be changed in the face of new evidence then to be fair that doesn't say much for them. So, really the theory of evolution really is a theory, it is not yet complete and probably never will be.

 

[JoanDrake]

perhaps he thought the inland sea was still there? baie comeau is the residue of an inland sea that used to traverse the continent. it would kind of explain him scooching around the jamacias. he was looking for the inlet.

Columbus used Ptolemy's model of the Earth, which made it only about 3000 miles from Spain to Japan. If he'd known the actual diameter he would probably not have gone as the minimum distance that way with no Americas was 12,000 miles, a journey which would tax even modern ships if attempted with no breaks.

He remained convinced he was in Asia for all 4 voyages.

After all, he DID know there was something not that far away to the West. He had heard the legends of Basque Fishermen and of piles of sea debris containing strange looking human bodies. There were also rumors that the Portuguese had discovered something called Brazil and were keeping it secret. (A Portuguese squadron followed him for a few days after he left the Azores on the first voyage but then broke off). His only real mistake was that the large land mass was not Asia, but the North and South American continents.