Te az elmélet ilyen jelentésére gondolsz: (Oxford English Dictionary)
"A hypothesis proposed as an explanation; hence, a mere hypothesis,
speculation, conjecture; an idea or set of ideas about something; an individual view or notion."
A tudományban az elmélet viszont ezt jelenti (Ez is az OED-bõl van):
"A scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or
account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed."
Sokan keverik a kettõt. Esetleg fordítsam le, vagy érted?