Can science prove a theory, or can it only disprove a theory?
I beg to differ, HungryGuy. Science is nothing more or less than a method of enquiry based on hypothesis testing facilitated by data collection. It is distinct from – though intimately connected to – logic and rationality. Notably, the concept of falsifiability is key to this tradition – hypotheses must be stated in such a way that they can be disproven with but one antagonistic observation. The round earth was proven not using scientific methodology but by dint of simple observation (from space). Saying that that is science is tantamount to saying that we can scientifically prove the length of a table by laying a ruler against it. Data collection is part of science, but data collection alone is not science. Orbital mechanics, gravitational theory, light theory, and medical germ theory have not been proven. They are just accepted as true insofar as we are aware today. Oh, yes, there are mathematical proofs for the first three sets of theories, but mathematical proof is a completely dif
