What Is a Theory?

Scientific theories bring together a large body of observations, natural laws, hypotheses, and inferences into coherent, well-supported, and testable explanations of some aspect of the natural world. Rather than being conclusive and absolute, however, scientific theories are tentative and subject to refinement or even rejection. Listen along as Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor, and paleontologist Kevin Padian each give their views on why evolution is a valid scientific theory and intelligent design is not.