Home > Obsolete scientific theory

In some cases, the theory has been completely discarded. In other cases, the theory is still useful because it provides a description that is "good enough" for a particular situation, and is more easily used than the complete theory (often because the complete theory is too mathematically complex to be usable). Karl Popper suggested that all scientific theories should be falsifiable otherwise they could not be tested by experiment. Anything which cannot be shown by experiment to be false would therefore be an axiom and have an absolute status, beyond any refutation.

1 Obsolete biology theories

• Lamarckism - but revitalised in Neo-Lamarckism - see also epigenetic inheritance
• Weismann Barrier - generally accepted, contested by a few
• Miasma theory of disease - obsoleted by germ theory of disease
• Spontaneous generation (abiogenesis)
• Recapitulation theory - or "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny"

2 Obsolete chemistry theories

• Caloric theory
• Phlogiston theory - replaced by Lavoisier's work on oxidation

3 Obsolete physics theories

• Flat earth theory
• Aristotelian theory of gravityThe Aristotelian theory of gravity was that heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones. This was brought about by the observations that anybody could make for themselves. The confusion is due to the fact that an heavier body is less affected by the resi - discredited by GalileoGalileo Galilei ( Pisa, February 15, 1564 Arcetri, January 8, 1642), was a Tuscan astronomer, philosopher, and physicist who is closely associated with the scientific revolution. His great achievements include perfecting the telescope, a variety of astron
• AetherAether has several meanings. Physics and philosophy In physics and philosophy, aether (also spelled ether) was once believed to be a substance which filled all of space. Aristotle included it as a fifth element on the principle that nature abhorred a vacu was shown to be incorrect by the Michelson-Morley experimentThe Michelson-Morley experiment one of the most important and famous experiments in the history of physics, was performed in 1887 (at what is now Case Western Reserve University), and is considered to be the first strong evidence against the theory of a l and Einstein's work.
• Geocentric universe and the Copernican model - obsoleted by Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton
• Plum pudding model of the atom - assuming the protons and electrons were mixed together in a single mass
• The Open Polar Sea, an ice-free sea once supposed to surround the North Pole