Of theories and hypotheses (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:22:22 -0500
From: Mark Broker <mbroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Of theories and hypotheses

All the recent "discussions" of various scientific endeavours has gotten
me rather hot and bothered by some of the reckless use of scientific
terms.  A "Theory" in the scientific sense is a well-tested framework that
explains one or more characteristics about the universe.  "Well-tested" is
the key phrase: if the explanations have not been sufficiently tested, it
is basically an hypothesis.  If an explanation is untestable, but appears
*likely* to be true, it is a conjecture.  The wikipedia articles on these
three terms are pretty good, IMO.

And now back to your regularly-scheduled programs on Tesla Coils.

Mark Broker