Scientific truths/findings/facts?

[Willowz]

Quick question.

How do you call an established scientific theory? A fact? A truth? Or there need not be any further description than "established scientific theory"?

 

[Jack21222]

Quick question.

How do you call an established scientific theory? A fact? A truth? Or there need not be any further description than "established scientific theory"?

Theory is fine by me. A "fact" is a little bit different than a theory. A theory explains the "facts." It's worth reading the old Stephen Jay Gould piece "Evolution as Theory and Fact" to get a handle on it.

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_fact-and-theory.html

Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from apelike ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other, yet to be discovered.

 

[Evo]

I can't find my old link, so this will have to do for now. I'm sure someone will have a better example.

http://teacher.pas.rochester.edu/phy_labs/appendixe/appendixe.html#Heading6